Quarantine
by Johnclaw Dragonhelm
Summary: Eight years after the Raccoon City Incident, Leon S. Kennedy is called back to the Quarantine Zone when Yoko Suzuki is spotted inside. Alongside his partners Sherry and Manuela, they must find the reason she returned, as well as contend with the dangers within.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I admit that I'm not an expert on _Resident Evil: Outbreak_ , so there may be some errors. Considering the flexible canonicity, I don't think it's too much of an issue, so with that out of the way, please enjoy.

Chapter 1

Manuela wished she could stop to assure Sherry as they walked, but she knew there wasn't time for that. Leon strode ahead of her, taking a pace she hadn't seen in a long time. His expression was unreadable and his eyes cold. She could even feel her own attitude had changed, being uncharacteristically silent.

The message had come in the night, with the utmost urgency. She'd been staying at the base, rather than at Leon's, but by the time she was out the door, he was already in route to the rendezvous. She had frowned slightly when she saw that he was already equipped; she didn't like his constant worry. Once she got the basic details, however, she had gone silent. It was no wonder Leon was on edge.

The three of them entered a board room, sitting along one of the long sides of the table. Both women sat flanking Leon, while their escort sat across from them. The lead man pulled out a file and set it down, but made no motions to pass it yet.

"Thank you for coming at such an odd hour, but you understand that this is quite important."

"Of course. But I would like some details."

"And you'll get them, Agent Kennedy, but first we need to establish some ground info here. In light of your condition after the Incident, we didn't ask too many questions, but now I'm afraid is the time to be asking them. First of all, how much do you remember of Raccoon City?"

"Every damn second," Leon replied flatly, and without hesitation. The man turned to Sherry.

"And you?"

"Honestly, not much. I just remember Leon and Claire saving me, and the thing that my father became. A lot of fire and death."

"That's understandable. Now, are you familiar with the reports on the survivors?"

"Claire, Sherry, Jill and myself. I'd heard rumours about an Umbrella agent escaping the city."

"Yes, Agent HUNK. The rumours were true, but we've yet to locate him long enough to track him down. But you are wrong on the account of being one of the only five survivors. In total, there were thirteen well documented, with a few more escaping our focus."

"There were eight more survivors? How come I never heard of them?" Leon asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Unlike your group or the late Ms. Valentine, they were not involved in the core elements involving the G-Virus. Though they did encounter and defeat several riskier B.O.W.'s, their knowledge of the organisms was limited and less than helpful in the wake of the city's destruction. As such, they were moved to low priority and largely left to their own devices."

"I'm guessing that's not the end of the story if we're here," Manuela pointed out.

"You'd be right on that Agent Hidalgo. We of course kept track of them throughout the years. A few of them had to go through therapy, or moved out of the country after what happened. But a few in particular were worth noting. You may recall Mr. Ryman." The man pulled out a photo of a man with messy brown hair. His physique spoke of a job involving physical stress, and the military grade equipment and uniform he wore in the photo sealed it. Despite his history, he wore a smile and a laid-back posture that spoke volumes of his optimism.

"He was one of the men on the force. He was supposed to be on the same division as me, but I only met him once. He survived?"

"Correct. For a while, he went on joyrides across America, but eventually, he returned to the Midwest, and actually came to us. He claimed to be unable to stop thinking about Raccoon City and what happened there. He wanted to protect people; so we gave him a job on the quarantine security detail. Since his instatement, he's risen through the ranks and become one of the ranking officers there. His knowledge of the infected has prevented anything from escaping the zone."

"You mean there are things still in there?" Sherry asked, worry evident in her tone.

"At the time, we were unprepared to deal with the threat. It was only last year that an anti-virus was created for the t-virus. While the blast killed the majority of infected, that didn't stop them from surviving on the dead, or on wildlife that strayed into the area. Even worse, the majority of infected that survived were unable to be found quick enough to prevent them from reaching the 'Crimson Head' stage before passing into 'Lickers.' It's taken all of our strength up to this point from preventing attacks by the creatures on the borders. We've never had the manpower to enter and start clearing it out zone by zone."

"But that's not why we're calling you here. Mr. Ryman wasn't the only one to come back to it all. Not long after the incident, Mr. King re-entered the city through a gap in the net. At first, we though he would be dead in a few days, but reports indicate that he's been living inside the borders for years, always at a distance."

"Why haven't you tried to retrieve him?" Manuela asked.

"According to all the other survivor's testimony, the man wasn't the most stable. He is reported to have enjoyed killing the infected. Prior to the incident, he wasn't exactly well off, but his skills made him well suited to survival in the incident. He may well have figured he was better off in there, and so we didn't think it would be a good idea to rescue a potentially dangerous target who didn't want to be rescued."

"But he's not the problem is he?" Sherry pointed out, starting to get where it was going. "Who went in that shouldn't be there?"

"People have entered and exited for years, often without approval. We always try to patch up the holes, but it's inevitable. You would be surprised how much we have to pay to keep people quiet," the man half-joked. "However, there was a unique case."

The man pushed a photo towards them of a young Japanese woman with long, raven black hair. She had a slightly tense look to her, likely a result of the incident. But more so, she looked haunted, and it didn't take Leon long to notice the Umbrella emblem on her shirt. "Who's she?"

"Yoko Suzuki. A former Umbrella researcher who escaped with the others. It was her testimony that brought down Umbrella, Agent Kennedy, so please do keep calm. After the incident, she spent some time researching the t-virus, hoping to create an antigen, but she disappeared a while ago, taking all her research with her. We thought maybe Umbrella had whacked her, and in all the chaos with Mr. Redfield in Europe, we had bigger matters on our hands."

"Let me guess, she's in the quarantine zone."

"You would be right. She disappeared around the time that Ryman was made commander of the zone. We have reason to believe the two events are not unrelated. Again, no evidence popped up after that to show her existence, until recently. Just a few hours ago she was seen again."

"You want us to get her out."

"That's the short of it. However, there are a few other things to note. First, we have Commander Ryman in holding right now, but he's being rather tight lipped. We don't believe he poses a risk to the U.S., but nonetheless, he's suspected of being involved in Ms. Suzuki's entrance to the zone. We want you to talk to him."

"Why me? Seems to me like he doesn't want to talk."

"He let Suzuki in. While it may be due to their mutual acquaintance, we have reason to believe it is also because she was a survivor of Raccoon City. Both you and Ms. Birkin here are survivors, so we believe he may be willing to cooperate more with you."

"Alright, so we'll talk to him and see if we get any leads. What else do we need to know?"

"There are many factors complicating your mission once you arrive on site. Not only are most of the infected in advanced stages, they are not the only threat. While most of the infected fauna were destroyed, wildlife that wanders into the zone tend to get infected, so there are packs of infected animals that roam the zone. Not only that, but the place seems to be a beacon for particularly deranged individuals. We have a few reports from the few ranging teams we've sent that they've seen individuals in the mess who seem to be arranged into rough tribes or the like. Most of them are either in the woods or the ruins, but they could still pose a threat."

"The largest threat however is the prolonged window. Searching the ruins for Suzuki could take time. We're willing to deploy drones in order to help coordinate your motions as well as scan the surface level, but if it's taken this long to simply spot her, she may be travelling in a way invisible to the drones."

"She could be using the subway lines. You have any maps of them?"  
"We have records. One of the survivors was a subway driver; we'll try to bring him to one of the outposts in order to radio you instructions should you enter the underground. More to the point though, all of you have either a natural immunity to the virus, or have been treated with the antibody, so we have no worries about sending you in, but it will be hard to survive in there. I'm sure I don't need to remind you of your training for this matter."

Leon nodded as the man continued. "If a week passes in the zone, we'll draw you back and recompile the data in order to narrow the search zone. Even as we speak, the observation teams are crunching numbers. You'll be fed constant updates on the situation as we monitor. Unfortunately, she was spotted pretty far in, and we're closer and closer to losing her each moment. Still, we can't afford to drop you in by helicopter; the sounds just attracts the infected. You'll have to trek by foot, and any amount of gear you carry risks slowing you down. You will be equipped with flares in case you need emergency evac, but those have their own risks, as I'm sure you know."

"Once inside, you were be on your own. We have snipers who will support you as far as they can, but weather conditions might change. Luckily, the weather looks fairly clear for the next few days, so we shouldn't worry too much, but in about four days a rain system is approaching, which will lower sight in the zone."

"We'll try and get this done before then, but if that's what it comes to, we'll keep pushing on," Leon promised. The man nodded, visibly relaxing. He seemed to remember a thought and leaned forward.

"I would like to add that none of you are being forced to do this. We fully understand that you've all been through a lot and-"

"I'm ready for this," Sherry interrupted, to everyone's surprise. Her face had set in determination, and she sat straighter, meeting the agent's gaze. Once she realized that no one was speaking, she faltered a little, turning to her companions. "Are you guys going to do this too?"

Leon smiled. "Of course. Don't worry, we wouldn't let you go by yourself."

The three of them stood up, and the agent mimicked the motion, offering his hand. Leon shook it tightly, and was handed the file. "Everything we have is in there, including some stuff you wouldn't normally have clearance for. Please look over it while in transit. The men will escort you to the armoury so you can get properly armed before heading over. Your packs are being assembled on-site, in accordance with our own standard field packages and your custom loadouts. Your agency was most generous in its assistance. Good luck!"

Leon nodded his thanks before hurrying down the corridor, followed by his partners. Each of them steeled themselves for the task ahead, and what they hoped would be a short deployment. In the back of their minds, however, they couldn't help but feel that it would never be as easy as they hoped.

* * *

"It looks like we'll be starting our search from the Nyx outpost. It's supposedly where the survivors escaped the city, so they have reason to believe that Yoko entered the city initially that way."

"I doubt even a police dog could track her down in all that decay anyway," Sherry noted. "According to these reports, the whole zone has a horrid stench that makes it near impossible for any kind of scent tracking to occur. Though the missile itself wasn't nuclear, it seems a few of the Umbrella facilities underneath the city used the stuff, and they caused some radiation spills in the center of the city. We're being issued hazard suits and suit geiger counters in order to avoid danger zones."

"They won't be able to track us with drones near those areas. The residual particles would make them start to malfunction. Unless we need to, we avoid them, got it?" Leon demanded, and both women nodded firmly. Manuela shifted over a map to their focus.

"This map shows the subway system. A lot of it has been blown away, but it looks like the stuff near the edges should be intact. If Yoko's been using them to get around the city, there have to be some that head towards the heart of the city."

"Leon, didn't we escape on a train? What about the rails?"

"Raccoon City didn't really use rails. They were connected to a nearby town, but the subway was the main transit. It's still worth noting that someone could possibly use a rail cart through some of the underground portions." Glancing over the maps, he seemed to be pulling an idea together. "Alright, so we'll start at Nyx and begin mapping out the surface at first with the drone support. Once we cover the area, we begin looking for signs of travel. Repeated marks along intersections, tunnels, anything. If we can't find that, we head to the underground. There's no way that she got to the center of the city without using the tunnels, even if she had help getting in."

Sherry nodded, gently turning the map so she could get a better look at it. Thinking, she traced a path down the highway, stopping when she reached the rail station.

"If she's after research," Sherry began, thinking aloud, "the first place she'd have gone is back to the site of one of the larger B.O.W.'s. They have the most chance of surviving the detonation. Barring that, the next best place would be the Umbrella lab."

"The police station was in the epicenter of the explosion, so I doubt we can take that way in, and even then, the radiation would be the worst there."

"We could always enter through the Dead Factory," Sherry supplied.

"But that still means we'd have to deal with the radiation. I don't think that Yoko would risk heading in there without proper equipment, and the image doesn't show her with anything like it." Sherry nodded, but Leon continued. "However, the Dead Factory could be a good lead. There's likely some B.O.W. corpses there, so we can check that after establishing our entrance zone. It does mean that we have to spend time trekking through the park."

"That shouldn't be too hard. Between Sherry and me, we should be able to follow a trail. If Kevin works with us, it shouldn't be too hard to get a lead on where she could have gone."

"Do you think she told him anything about what she was doing?" Sherry asked.

"Kevin saw the destruction of Raccoon personally. I doubt he'd let anyone in without a damn good reason," Leon explained. "We won't know until we talk to him though whether or not he actually has any clue what she's doing in there."

The agents fell silent, listening to the sound of the engines whirring in preparation for take off. Within minutes, they were in the air, speeding off into the dark night towards the quarantine zone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Mr. Kennedy, glad to have you here."

Leon shook the man's hand, immediately recognizing him from the file. Marcus Brannigan, Ryman's second in command. According to the files, he'd been the one to personally ask Ryman to come in for questioning, which the man had agreed to. Their history went back as far the checkpoint had existed. They had even served on the same ranging teams.

"Thanks for working with us. I know this is all very inconvenient."

"You're not wrong," Brannigan laughed tiredly, motioning for Leon to sit down. "I was told you were bringing your partners..?"

"They're getting some things set up," Leon excused. "It's procedure."

"Of course. I understand. This place runs on procedure. Decontaminations, watch shifts. They even regulate our meals." Brannigan sighed and tilted his head. "It was strange to think that Kevin would just dodge protocol like that."

"Do you have anything you'd like to tell us before we talk with him?"

"Whatever his reasons, I'm sure they were good. Kevin's always done things to make sure we're safe. He's spent more hours working on this outpost than anyone here."

"A father to his men?"

"Almost literally in some cases. A lot of delinquents get sent here you know. Being this close to a biological disaster tends to scare some sense into them. Kevin cared though. Once they'd served their time, or been here long enough to learn their lessons, he always offered them a place here. Even offered to give recommendations to people if they needed it. Funny part was that by the time they left this place, they didn't usually need his help anymore. We've had a couple of exceptions though."

"Such as?" Leon asked, curious. "Any particularly troublesome cases?"

"Yeah, a few. Sometimes, the kids aren't so much "troublesome" as outright nuts. A lot of military families send their trouble kids here. As I said, most of the time it works out, but sometimes, they just don't work out. We've had a few fights, some injuries, but most of the time, they get what's coming to them."

"And if they don't?"

"In our time at the outpost, we've had five of 'em head into the zone. They were mainly in the early years. Kevin personally made changes to the routines when he rose through the ranks to make sure that didn't happen again."

"Sounds like he's done a good job keeping this place safe."

"I'd argue that I feel safer here than I ever did in the city. I trust every man in here with my safety, and so does Kevin. If he let that woman into the zone, he must have had a reason. Right?"

"Do you know anything about her?"

"Just what Kevin told me when we were told to bring him in. He told me that he knew her from when the city went up. She must have been one of the other survivors. Speaking of, weren't you one of them?"

Leon smiled flatly. "I was one of the survivors, yes."

"They brought you in because they think Kevin will talk to you," Brannigan observed. "You understand better than me what he went through in that place. He'll talk to you, I just know it."

"I'm glad to hear it. If it turns out that Commander Ryman had good reasoning to let her in, and cooperates, I'm sure he'll be returned to duty. It seems he's been doing an excellent job with this place, and he certainly doesn't deserve to lose his position."

"Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. If there's anything any of us can do to help you folks, we're at your service."

"No problem. Just keep an eye out for us and an ear to the radio." Brannigan nodded and Leon left the room, exiting into the attached hallway. It had been a while since he'd done interrogations, but to be fair, the men interviewed so far all were fairly compliant. It was certainly making his job easier. Finally, it was time to meet the man himself. Taking his file with him, Leon hurried down the hallway to the room he was being kept it. Taking a breath, he stepped inside.

Once in the same room, Leon got a better look at the man. He seemed to be older than Leon by about a decade, which almost pushed him into his forties. Despite his age, he seemed in excellent physical form. While he had the body of a gruff military man, he had obvious smile lines and a bright twinkle in his eye, though the line of his brow also made Leon realize that he realized a lot more than he let on. Various badges were clipped to his uniform, but the one that struck him the most was the silver badge on his left arm. _R.C.P.D._

Kevin noticed his gaze immediately. "You recognize it?"

"It's the Raccoon City Police Badge."

"I'm surprised. Even if people know what went down in there, they hardly ever realize how much the police tried to help everyone. You see-" Kevin cut himself off as Leon fished something out of his pocket, setting it on the table. It was another police badge. Kevin gently took the piece of metal in his hands, examining the wear and tear on it. "You were RCPD?"

"I was actually going to be on the same squad as you," Leon explained as he sat down. "I overslept that day and ended up coming to the city on the 29th."

"A day after everything went to hell. The others and I managed to escape the city that morning, after fighting our way from the center out. Nearly got taken out by some MAC truck on our way out."

"That would be how I ended up in the city. Another survivor and I were attacked and went out of control. Needless to say, not my best first day on the force."

Kevin nodded with a slight smile, narrowing his eyes in thought. "We met once before. Probably at an orientation or something. Strange...we narrowly avoided each other so many times and here we are, years later. What do you do?"

"Government agent. Pretty women, espionage, the whole nine yards," Leon joked. Kevin chuckled, straightening his posture.

"We had three women in our own group, though I'm not sure if Alyssa counted half the time. Still, she wrote the papers on that brought down Umbrella, so I can't hate her too much. You're not here for her, though, are you? You're here about Yoko."

"You'd be right. Are you willing to talk with us?"

"That depends. Why do you want her?" Kevin's expression had lost some of its mirth. Instead, he was peering at Leon suspiciously, as if trying to catch him in a lie.

"We want to know why she went in there. Our paper trail for her ends shortly after the destruction of Raccoon City, and the last notes we have from her were on the virus. Suddenly, years later and she'd not only back, but inside the quarantine zone. It's only natural to want to know what happened. I can assure you, bringing her back alive is our priority."

"That's just the thing. She doesn't want to come back. You're familiar with what she did to herself?"

"Her memories were wiped, right?"

"At first. When the city went up, she remembered everything. Including her role in the creation of the Tyrants. Five years ago, T.A.L.O.S. was created. The perfect B.O.W. Yoko was not happy to hear what had become of her research."

"Five years ago? Our paper trail ends almost immediately after 1998. You had contact with her?"

"We all did. We went through worse than hell together. Unless one of us did something horrible, we would never betray one another. We may not all like each other, but we do respect one another. I passed the information I could about T.A.L.O.S. onto Yoko. As I said, she was not happy."

"I can't imagine why," Leon replied flatly.

"Did you know that every Tyrant carries a small amount of her cells in it?" Leon was caught off-guard by the question, looking up in surprise. "It's the reason she wiped her memory in the first place. She didn't want to have to face the fact that he cells were instrumental in the creation of the Tyrants."

Kevin lapsed into silence for a minute, before continuing solemnly. "We all learned things from that city. I got my life in order after that. Yoko learned to face her problems head on instead of running, but now I worry she's gotten herself trapped by not running. The city...it kind of calls you back. Yoko and David just couldn't resist it."

"David King?"

"That's the one. Don't get me started on him. When I heard he was in the zone, I was half tempted to go out and find him myself, just to figure out why the hell he was in there. David's never been the most stable. Sure, we all got a kick from killing zombies, but David enjoyed it too much. I think he enjoyed being able to kill and survive like that. We didn't want to risk going after him in the zone, so we let him stay. He rarely ever comes in sniper range though, so it works out."

Leon nodded, piecing together the image of the other side of the wall. "So why do you think Yoko went in there? If her research was on a t-antigen, she would have come out already."

"I think it has something to do with the tyrants. She was pretty desperate to get in when I let her through, so I didn't get to ask too much. What I do know is that she felt she could only figure out whatever it was she was trying to understand in there, amidst that void of nothingness. She mentioned some virology babble, but I couldn't follow it. I do know that she mentioned a couple of the B.O.W.S. we fought. She seemed really interested in the Tyrant R."

"Why do you think that?"

"Apparently, a man named Dr. Carter was able to control it for a while before he was killed. I think she wanted to know more about how that worked, as well as maybe just researching how the tyrants were created."

"Did she realize that the Umbrella facility is currently irradiated?"

Kevin's expression paled, and he leaned forward uncomfortably. "What's that?"

"The impacts caused the reactors to meltdown and dose the labs with radiation. The complexes are pretty badly irradiated." Leon could tell by the immediate reaction that he was unaware of whether or not she knew about the threat. "If our estimates are correct, anyone who walks into the facility unprotected should die in about 22 minutes. How long has Yoko been in the zone?"

"A few months, but we'd have seen her if she was near the crater!" Kevin claimed, beginning to panic. "Jesus, I knew I should have stopped her! I-"

"Commander Ryman! Please calm down!" Leon commanded. "The entrance below the RPD is covered up and the bedrock there should have prevented her from being exposed to any doses worth noting. However, if she finds the Dead Factory, then she'll be in trouble."

"The Dead Factory? What the hell kind of place is that?"

"It was a factory northeast of the park where Umbrella got rid of their biological waste. It has a direct connection to the facility, but is hidden pretty well. I doubt she'll have found it if she's looking through the city ruins. What we can do is try and send a message to Yoko. We can get some packages lined up with anti-radiation medicines and messages about the risks. If she finds one, it might just be enough to dissuade her from going down there at all. Of course, we'll also be planting trackers in the cases so we can find her."

"I suppose that makes sense. I don't think she'll want to come though. She seemed determined to stay in there when I tried to talk her out of it. It seemed like she could only do what she wanted to in the zone."

"Do you think that you might be able to convince her to come out if we got her on the phone?"

"Not in the slightest. I wasn't able to before, but I won't have a chance now that she's put her mind to it. She was always stubborn that way," Kevin said with a smile.

"Is there anything else? Any idea where she'd head?"

"She'd probably stick to the ruins around the crater. They're enough to hide her from view, while being close to the research. She's probably along the west side, if I had to hazard a guess. David and the others are on the southeast, so I doubt she'd go that far. You know…" Kevin trailed off, sitting up, his expression growing grim. "All of us that escaped, that is, the other seven and me, never really forgot what we saw in there. It becomes part of who you are. There are still times where I look into the zone and can feel the sense of dread rise up in me, like I'm about to be killed by my own fear. Kind of reminds me of an old story I read once. _The King in Yellow_."

Kevin laughed mirthlessly. "Didn't think of it much at the time, you know, being horror and all, but I guess I never expected anything horrific to ever happen to me. In the story, there's this play. They never really describe it, but anyone who reads it goes mad. Once you read it, you can't _unread_ it. It stays with you, and no one can understand what it was like without having been through it."

"My men are good people, and they'd be willing to risk their lives to help anyone. But even with the Lickers giving us an occasional fight, they don't really understand what it was like in there. It was only a day or two at most, but hell if they weren't the longest days of my life. I may be here manning the wall, but if I had a choice, I wouldn't go back in there. If someone was in trouble, I could stick it out for them, but on my own? Never. Yoko though...I can only imagine what must have possessed her to go back in. Whatever she thought was important enough to go back in there for, I can only hope it was for a good reason."

The room was silent for a minute before Leon spoke. "We'll find Yoko, and she'll be alive when we find her. Whatever she needs from the zone, we'll find a way to get it to her, and then get her out in one piece. Promise."

Kevin nodded, sighing as he leaned back. "I trust ya. You understand, don't you?"

"All too well Commander," Leon confided quietly before standing up. "I'm sure that with all you've told us, we'll be able to find her soon. You'll probably be questioned a couple more times before they let you go. As far as I see it, you were just doing what you thought was right. We'll put in a good word for you."

Kevin nodded, acknowledging the motion. Leon stepped out of the room, determined, and ready.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was morning when the trio prepared for insertion. According to the reports, most of the infected tended to pacify around morning, as they had been wandering all night. There was a small spike around midday when they regained some energy, but it was always worst at night.

The door in front of the three hissed open, opening into Decontamination Bay B. Stepping inside, the door immediately closed behind them. One of the men behind the glass looked up expectantly and Leon flashed him a thumbs up. The man nodded, beginning the cleaning sequence. Leon felt the water hit his suit, rolling off easily. He rolled his shoulders.

"Testing testing, one two three."

"Reading you loud and clear," Manuela replied.

"Same here."

"All fine on our end as well," replied an operator. Leon nodded to their invisible companion. Their suits' internal communications had been tuned to the base's frequency so they could remain in constant contact with the specialists and technicians as they progressed. They would be monitoring the situation in order to best give advice on how to proceed and cautions to avoid.

The decontamination cycle finished and the sound of pneumatics could be heard as the wall in front of them opened, filling the room with natural light. Even Leon couldn't help but be stunned at the landscape before them.

The path ahead of them was clearly the shattered remains of a highway, but everything else was nearly levelled. Any sign of a once vibrant Midwestern town was now replaced with miles of grey stone and rebar. In the distance, the mostly flat landscape swelled upwards towards a lip, before diving out of view into what could only be an impact crater. All the rubble leaned outwards from the crater, forming a disturbingly layered plane before them. Stepping forward, Leon could hear the crunch of his boots on the blasted concrete, which was pockmarked with bullet hulls and craters from detonations. He could practically see the late night stands at the barricade in front of him.

Their path lead to the southeast, but Leon turned his head towards the east, looking at the sun rising over the mountains. In the increasing light, he could see the motes of dust floating through the air like pathogens, carried by dry and dead winds.

"Wow...it's so desolate. It looks nothing like I remember…" Sherry commented, looking across the expansive horizon. Her gaze wandered northwards, and her eyes widened as she beheld the rail line by which they had escaped about two miles away, a faint pair of charred and rusted metal lines in the debris.

Manuela pulled out her submachine gun, letting the small gun hang lightly in her grip. Even though the terrain was largely flat, the upturned rubble still formed potential ambush points. Her partners picked up on her action, drawing their own weapons, though Sherry left her shield on her back to prevent it from getting in her way.

Leon quickly checked the sights of his sniper rifle, before lowering the weapon with a satisfied hum. "Alright, we better get walking."

The others fell into place behind him as he began heading down the highway. The sound of their boots was the only thing aside from their breathing that any of them could hear. Just ahead of them, they could see the remains of a police blockade in the form of the rusted out police cruisers.

"This where they killed Nyx?" Leon asked over the comms as they walked towards the vehicles, weapons drawn. Even though they were long abandoned, Leon knew better than to trust a vehicle. Infected always seemed to hide in them. Putting away his rifle, he drew his pistol, circling around the side door of the nearest car.

"Correct."

Leon peered through the side windows, which were warped by heat and cracked from the shockwave, making it hard to see. He rotated to the side so that Sherry could step up, unslinging her shield. If anything lunged from the door, she'd have the best chance of staving it off. Grabbing the handle of the door, she gave it a tug, but the door refused to budge.

"Permission to breach the vehicle?" Sherry asked. Leon nodded, stepping back as Manuela took up position beside her. Both women nodded to each other, taking a half step forward before side kicking the door simultaneously. Manuela quickly stepped backwards, readying her machine gun. Sherry held up her hand, Lightning Hawk readied. After a moment, she lowered her weapon. "All clear."

Sherry leaned in, grabbing the bent and broken door before pulling it out, laying it down a few feet away. At the same time, Manuela crouched beside the door, peering into the dirty backseat. "Looks like most of the interior is fairly preserved, all things considered."

Manuela twisted, grabbing a device from her belt. Pressing a few buttons, it released what appeared to be some kind of swab, which Manuela ran over the surface before inserting it back into the machine. A few moments later, it flashed up a series of results, and Manuela was silent as she read them. "Looks like there's some residual material here. A T-virus strain, but not Veronica. I'd say we're looking at some of the Nyx Tyrant."

"You think that it's anything useful?"

"No way to tell for sure. There was enough to identify it, so I'd say there's enough to use for something, though I'm not sure if anyone would have the equipment to do that in here."

"Hey guys! One of these cars was opened!" Sherry announced, causing both of the other agents to turn, weapons ready towards Sherry. The car in question was near the edge of the highway, and was in better condition than the rest. The door on the far side was indeed open, and Sherry was looking inside, careful not to disturb anything. "Looks like someone rummaged around a bit in here. I'd be willing to bet that there was some of that Nyx thing in here too."

"We should check, just to be sure. Check around the perimeter for other signs of tampering," Manuela commanded. Sherry and Leon nodded, with the former going to the back of the vehicle to pop the trunk. Circling around, Leon crouched, checking the undercarriage. A feeling of faint suspicion rose in him and he flicked on his flashlight, eyes adjusting briefly to see a rope tied to the frame of the car. It lead off to the side, cleverly concealed in the framework before leading off the nearby edge. It would have been hard to see from the sides. It was clear that whoever had tied it had experience with urban survival.

"We got a rope here," Leon announced, stepping around to the side where it ran off. Sherry leaned over the corner of the car, spotting the line.

"Wow, good spot Leon."

"This one of your field team's?"

"No, our point is a bit further on ahead," the operator answered quickly. Leon thanked the man before crouching beside the edge, twisting his head so he could see where the rope lead. It was obviously new, and went all the way down to the ground, where it disappeared into the ruins of a building that had managed to survive destruction in the lee of the highway support.

"Then it looks like we've picked up Yoko's trail. I doubt the drones could have seen this. Speaking of, when are those getting online?"

"We're waiting until mid-day so that the sun's overhead. It helps with the imaging. We can send a couple out though if you want, but they would only be able to work for a couple of hours before needing to return for a top up. We can send one and have it ready for the midday search if you want."

"Let's do that. If we're going to follow a trail, it would be nice to have an eye in the sky so we can focus on the path."

"Understood, give us a few minutes and we'll have one on your position. We'll patch the feed to Agent Hidalgo." Manuela acknowledged before pulling out yet another one of the devices she'd been assigned. It was a variant of the radio they'd used in Spain, with expanded reception and transmission capabilities. Adjusting a few dials, she cleared with the base that she'd set her end up.

"Find anything Sherry?"

"There were a few tools in the trunk, but they've all been taken. I'd say Yoko's pretty resourceful."

Leon sighed. They would have more trouble than he'd anticipated tracking her down. She'd evaded the government for years, and he doubted it was accidental. Grabbing the rope, he gave it a couple of tugs, testing its security, surprised to find that it was exceptionally tied. Leon was about to start heading down when Manuela spoke.

"We've got drone support." Following her pointed hand, Leon could see the small shape flying out from over the wall. He'd heard good words about the increasing use of the things for investigating biohazard zones, but he'd never worked with them before. He'd leave that to Manuela.

"Alright. Let's head down while they scout the area around the ground." Manuela nodded, stowing the device once more while Leon dropped to the ground, carefully lowering himself over the edge, gripping the rope tightly with his gloves. Once he was certain he was secured, he began the process of lowering himself downwards. As he did, he watched the drone do a slow arc, lowering down below him in no time, giving a quick buzz over the building they'd be touching down in. With a calm grace, it curved out before passing by again to get the area from a different angle.

"We've got a couple of infected in your general area, but our sharpshooters should be able to pick them off before you hit the ground," the operator assured. Leon didn't bother to look down to see it happening, focusing all of his effort on scaling the rope downwards.

As soon as his feet hit the broken tile floor, his gun was out. A few feet away, a corpse lay in an expanding pool of blood, a shot through its head. While he'd never worked with a support team like it before, Leon could say he was liking it so far. Moving out of the way, he allowed Sherry and Manuela to hit the ground as well, fanning outwards in a circle. "Alright, let's check the structures for clues."

The women nodded, heading down the stairs while Leon walked over to the broken side of the building, pulling out his sniper rifle and taking up a post on the stacked bricks. He could see the surroundings blocks from his position, so he could watch the exteriors of the buildings while his partners searched inside. If anything tried to sneak up on them, he'd see them coming for miles. While he thought of it…

"What's that patch of green to our south? It looks like some of the buildings are intact."

"That's the Raccoon City Zoo. For the first few months, it kept churning out mutated animals, but they faded quickly. Most of the structures were metal or concrete, so a lot of it stayed in one piece. Do you want us to scout it for you?"

"If you could get a few sweeps over it, that'd help us out. Look for areas that appear to have overhangs."

"Understood, diverting course." Leon watched as the drone rose from the streets, flying over the buildings until it reached the patch of green and began a holding pattern to observe the area. Focusing his attention back on the streets, he saw Sherry in one of the top floors of the building she had entered, flashing him an "all clear." The buildings weren't all that tall, so there was only a floor or two at most to clear per building. It didn't take long for the pair to sweep the standing buildings, and Leon was about to call the area clear when Manuela's voice came over the coms.

"Found something here. Looks like this place used to be a pharmacy. Looks like someone broke in and took some of the medication, and recently too. They didn't take everything though, just some items. I'll look for an inventory sheet." Leon was about to respond when the operator once again radioed in.

"We spotted some of the zone inhabitants a few miles southeast of the zoo. They never come this far unless they're ranging for something, and that usually means they're armed. It'll take a moment while we gain some altitude but we'll track them with this drone while we prep another one for take off."

"Did you see anything while flying over the zoo?"

"We'll forward the list to Agent Hidalgo."

"Alright, over and out." Leon glanced down to see his partners had finished and were headed back into his building. He slung his sniper rifle back over his shoulder , stepping away from the wall. Even though the rangers were miles off, he still didn't like the idea of being in the city with anyone else, especially if any of them were even halfway proficient with their weapons.

"So, what did you find?"

"I was able to find some of the inventory," Manuela announced, handing Leon a dirty piece of paper. "It didn't hold up too well, given that it's been here for about eight or so years, but I was able to find at least one medicine on that list that wasn't in the cabinet. It was an antiviral, and an Umbrella manufactured one at that."

"Wouldn't it be expired by now?" Sherry asked.

"Some drugs can retain their potency for anywhere from five to ten years after their expiry date. Even if it was expired, I doubt they would be using it to treat viruses. The t-virus doesn't respond to anything other than the daylight vaccine or the anti-t."

"You've got a point. You think it has something to do with the Umbrella manufacturing?"

"I'd bet on it," Leon commented. "Did you happen to see any indications of where she's headed?"

"None that I could see. Sorry Leon."

"It's alright. We should head towards the Raccoon City Zoo ruins. The survivors went through there at one point, so it might be a spot Yoko visited. If we're really lucky, she might still be there."

"Since when were we lucky?" Sherry quipped with a smile, slinging her shield back over her shoulder.

* * *

Evening had overcome them after an all too fruitless search of the Raccoon City Zoo. Even with the assistance of the drone support team, they had found nothing. Now, the three were holed up in one of the old staff centers. Leon was thankful that the old architecture meant that most of the building was concrete, and thus, would be hard to penetrate.

Still, as the three sat around in the room, there was a sense of uneasiness. Though they had seen a couple of infected during the day, they had been told the night was far worse. When Leon had first been in the city, zombies had been the worst of his problems.

But now, most of the infected were Lickers. The idea of hordes of Lickers crawling through the night made him shudder and clutch his rifle tightly. The others had picked up on his nervous edge, and here holding their own weapons tightly. Sherry's finger had not left the trigger of her Lightning Hawk, while Manuela had taken the time to make a few of her incendiary rounds, though she didn't take enough to make herself weak. Their evening meal was consumed in relative silence before they put the masks back on. Though each of them was immune to the effects of the t-virus, it was still a precaution they did not skip.

Leon had elected to take first shift, as he would be the most useless in the night, and Sherry would need to rest after carrying as much weight as she did. Glancing over, he spared a smile at his partners, who had fallen asleep together, backs to the wall. A strange feeling came over him as he looked at Sherry.

Leon couldn't quite grasp the nature of his emotion, but it wasn't a bad feeling, that he could tell. The girl that he'd saved so long ago had become a strong, fierce woman. If he had been asked those eight years ago about her becoming an agent, he probably would have frowned and accused the questioner of wanting to make a child soldier or something of the sort.

He had watched as she followed in Manuela's footsteps, becoming an agent in record time through determination and skill. Her ability to adapt to the training was remarkable, and he found it almost ironic that both of the women's best abilities were to adapt. Perhaps it wasn't unexpected; maybe that was what allowed them to keep their humanity.

What was ironic to him, however, was how they went about it. Manuela's own father had been a brutal man, using power and influence to get his way. Manuela herself played more of a support role in the team than a bruiser. She had the most medical knowledge out of all of them, and was by far the gentlest in nature.

Sherry was a different story. Her father, according to all the reports Leon had read, had been a genius. The G-Virus was largely a product of his work, but the man had been greedy and willing to risk ruin to achieve his ends. He had infected himself with the G-Virus to prevent anyone from getting their hands on it. Sherry was none of those things. She kept her father's determination, but she could hardly be called greedy. Even more than Manuela, she'd been eager to give her blood and other samples in order to combat the virus, to the point of near harm. Both of them used to virus to fight, but even then it was in different ways. Sherry could have easily cast aside her humanity and become a powerful creature that would likely have retained some of her intelligence, but she instead chose to limit herself. Right down to her wardrobe, everything she did was part of her choice to stay human.

Leon had only briefly met Sherry's mother, and both instances were not pleasant. He wondered how Sherry would react to knowing her mother had shot him in the shoulder. He spared a small chuckle at the thought of her apologies before falling back into thought. While he hadn't known her that well, he had perceived one thing about her, and that was her loyalty. Even after her husband had become a horrific monster, she had been dedicated to trying to find him. In the end, it was what killed her. In her last moments, she had given them the answer to how to save Sherry, something that went against her desire to protect her research.

He supposed that Sherry shared that trait with her. When he thought about it, she even looked a lot like her mother, though she had more of her father's hair colour. His last encounter with Annette had been when she lay dying, and just the thought of Sherry potentially being threatened like that was enough to make his stomach rise nervously. The last thing that Annette had spoken of was her love for her daughter, and how she'd failed to be a good mother. Leon wondered if Sherry knew how much her parents had loved her.

"My shift now." Leon chuckled as he heard Sherry's tired voice. He'd apparently lapsed off long enough for it to switch shifts. Sherry stood to his side, looking down tiredly. Leon motioned for her to sit next to him and she obliged. "Thinking of something?"

"I was just thinking of your parents," Leon stated honestly, causing Sherry to perk up a little, as if she weren't sure she had heard him right. "It was eight years ago, but I still remember them. Do you remember them at all?"

"Kind of. I was young then, so I blocked a lot of it out. I doubt I could remember if I wanted to." Sherry's tone was tired, with a hint of bitterness, but her expression lightened somewhat as she continued. "Things used to be okay. Dad... didn't like to leave his work. Of course, I didn't realize it at the time, but he was obsessed with his job. Mom and him both. Somehow they still found time for me."

"That all changed just a little bit before Raccoon City. He stopped coming home as often, and Mom was devoted to him. Pretty soon, it was just me at home."

"I hear that's not good for kids."

Sherry chuckled, shoving Leon gently with her shoulder. "Not really. I never understood why they just dropped everything so quickly. I guess it had something to do with the G-Virus, since everything happened shortly after that."

Leon nodded in agreement, a thought coming to him. "I remember hearing that one of the S.T.A.R.S. team members found something...had to do with a bit of turmoil inside of Umbrella. Apparently, a few of the head scientists had plotted to kill a colleague, and they succeeded, but you know how it is with Umbrella. Things rarely stay dead."

"Was my father one of those scientists?" Sherry asked bluntly, and Leon nodded.

"Wesker and him together." Sherry cursed and slammed her hand into the floor.

"Wesker?! He was working with that son of a-!" Sherry cut herself off with muttered cursing.

"Apparently, it wasn't enough to stay dead. James Marcus, the man they killed, came back and infected an entire research facility. Your father became paranoid that someone would try and sabotage his work. Your mother just wanted to help him."

"She was helping create a deadly virus! Did she value that over me?"

"Do you know what her last words were?" Leon interrupted, expression stern. Sherry was caught off guard and she shook her head, going completely quiet. "She said, 'Please, help Sherry. Tell her, that even though I failed as a mother, I have always loved her.'"

Sherry was completely quiet, processing the delayed message. A few times, she tried to speak, but words seemed to evade her. "How...how come you never told me?"

"Whenever your father was mentioned, you were always angry, but you never mentioned your mother. I thought you might have forgotten her. It wasn't until now that I really even remembered. There was...kind of a lot happening."

"No kidding," Sherry laughed humourlessly. Gently, she grabbed Leon's hand. "Thanks though. Even if you were a little late."

"Hey, being late saved my life. If I'd been early, I would have been one of the zombies shambling around like everyone else."

"True," Sherry admitted, leaning against Leon. "Thanks though. I...I never really got to know either of them. Claire, Manuela, and you are the closest thing I have to family. I guess I kind of just let them go...do you think they're happy now?"

Leon thought deeply about how to answer before nodding. "I think so. They'd be proud to see the woman you've become today. I know I am."

"Somehow I doubt they'd approve of my choice of profession, you know, being anti-bioterrorism," Sherry retorted with a thankful smile. "But I guess you're right. It makes me kind of happy...thinking that they're better off wherever they are…do you think I'll get to see them again?"

"Hopefully not too soon kiddo, but someday. Then you'll have all the time in the world to be with them," Leon promised. "But for now, you're stuck with us."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Though I wrote this prior to its release, I just to briefly celebrate the 20th anniversary of Resident Evil. Here's to many more years!

Chapter 4

Gripping tightly, Leon pulled himself over the top of the ledge, rolling to a crouch, pistol ready. He scanned both ways on the roof before being satisfied that nothing was there. His nerves were on edge as he slowly stood up, listening as he retrieved the rope from his bag. Walking over to one of the building's exhaust ports, he tied the rope around it securely, before tossing the other end down from where he came.

Leon listened as the other two followed him up, guarding the top. Sherry was first over, followed by Manuela. Sherry waited at the top, pistol drawn and ready as Manuela crested the edge. Once both were on top, they crept slowly and quietly towards Leon's position, taking cover in the early morning shadow of the large port. The pair watched Leon's back as he untied the rope, and stuffed it back into his pack.

"Alright, everyone into positions," Leon whispered. Sherry and Manuela nodded, hurrying low and quiet along the roof in opposite directions. Manuela headed towards the roof access, climbing on top of the cement structure while Sherry crested the top of the peaked roof, disappearing out of Leon's sight on the other side.

Leon spared only a moment to look around as he waited for them to get into positions. Getting on top of the elephant house hadn't been easy. Most of the doors had been locked, and the only way up had been a pretty difficult scale, even for Leon. Still, it was one of the best places to scope out their surroundings. They couldn't afford to waste much time searching the zoo on foot, and so they had agreed to get up early and scope out the area.

Now that he could see the whole thing, he was surprised at how well it had fared. There were fewer buildings in the space of the zoo, so it had been less affected by the shockwaves of the missiles. A few of the buildings had holes in them, presumably caused by Titan. Here and there, he could see a shambling infected, and on one of the far buildings he could see a Licker crawling noiselessly up the side of the ruined gift shop. The lack of any human or animal life reminded Leon of the images he'd seen from Chernobyl, with the preserved buildings and eerie silence. Unlike the exclusion zone, this place had much worse things living in it.

"In position," Leon heard Sherry confirm over the radio. He pulled himself from his observation and pulled out a pair of binoculars. Taking a moment to focus the lenses, he began searching the surroundings for any signs of Yoko's path.

He started at the entrance to the zoo, even though they'd already searched the area on foot during their entry. _We could have missed something above our heads_ , Leon thought to himself. Searching the trees and the buildings, he looked for any kind of sign that someone had been through the area.

Spying nothing, he followed along the paths, searching for signs of passage. A few times, he spotted a rotting poster or some other object that required him to stop and focus even closer on it before dismissing it as trash. Every time he saw a Licker, he double checked to make sure his pistol was easily retrieved. The extra weight of the suppressor was barely noticeable, but would be invaluable if they were attacked. Even though it didn't get rid of all the sound, it would make it significantly harder for the Lickers to pinpoint their location.

"Looks like the Lickers are retiring," Manuela commented from on top of her sniper's perch. "We should be able to move out in about a half hour. You guys found anything?"

"Nothing on my end," Leon affirmed.

"I see a dead Licker over by the restaurant. I can't see any kind of slash marks, so I can only assume that it was killed by some other means. I can't see any bullet holes from this distance though. There's also a small scrap stuck on the weathervane. Looks like a makeshift waymark flag," Sherry informed.

"Sounds like the kind of thing we're looking for," Leon thought aloud, continuing to look. It was a lead, but they couldn't risk moving from their position yet. While the Lickers had thinned with the rising sun, there was still a risk of running into them. Finishing his scan, he decided to place the call into HQ. "HQ, this is Agent Kennedy. Once our window arrives, we'll be headed to check out the Licker corpse. If it gives us a lead, we'll pursue it, but if that doesn't pan out, we're going to head around the northern edge of the impact sight towards the Dead Factory to place the surveillance devices."

"Understood. The package will be ready upon your arrival at the facility. Anything else?"

Leon frowned as he thought about their mission. If the Licker ended up being a lead, it would help them find the missing researcher, but that had its own problems. The longer they waited to set up surveillance at the Dead Factory, the more likely that Yoko would be able to sneak in without notice. He decided to make an executive decision.

"We're going to need one more personnel if we get the lead. It's too much of a risk to allow the Dead Factory to go unobserved, and none of us can make the trip up there alone. I'd like to place a request for another personnel, preferably with as much experience with biohazards as possible."

"One moment." Leon nodded, even though the person couldn't see him. He could feel the questioning gazes of his teammates, but knew they understood his rationale. Patiently, Leon waited, switching to his sniper rifle in order to cover the area should anything go wrong.

"I think I see another one of those flags," Manuela announced. "Beyond the south gates. Attached to a metal archway. Can you confirm Sherry?"

"One sec...yep, that's one of them. Looks like we've got a trail. Do we still want to go check the body? It's about time."

"It might tell us a bit more about either the rangers or Yoko's behaviour in here, so I think it's for the best-"

"Agent Kennedy, this is HQ. Your request has been approved. I assume you want it enacted?"

"Yes, as soon as possible. How long should we expect until deployment of the fourth member?"

"They'll meet your operative en route to the highway. We kept a few people on retainer, just in case a situation required extraction or some variation thereof."

"Understood. Who's being deployed?"

"An old friend of yours. Angela Miller. Will that be a problem?"

"Not at all. Leon out."

"HQ out."

Leon was surprised to say the least. He had not expected Angela of all people to be the one sent in. As he thought it over though, it began to make sense. Angela already hated biohazards and had been devoted to fighting them. He didn't think it entirely unlikely that after losing her brother to them, she would continue to fight them. He just hadn't expected to run into her again.

"Well isn't this a surprise," Manuela commented with a slight chuckle.

"You guys know her?" Sherry asked absently, still working on scanning the surroundings while waiting for the window.

"Leon and I worked with her during Harvardville." Leon knew full well that was the short, official version of the story. While their conversation was capable of being transmitted, they couldn't go into much detail.

"Oh right. I remember you guys talking about her. Seems like as good a person as any. I'll take point."

No one protested as they moved from their positions to join Sherry. By the time they crossed the roof to her, she'd already secured her line to the building. She took a quick glance around, just to make sure the coast was clear before sliding down the line quickly. She stopped her descent just a bit above the ground before silently getting off, drawing her pistol, although she kept her shield stowed. It would make her a more obvious form to be spotted. Sherry tied her end down before motioning for Leon to toss her the other end. Leon untied her knot and ran the rope around before throwing it down.

Sherry tied it down a little ways further ahead before flashing Leon a thumbs up. He nodded and grabbed the rope sliding down towards Sherry, who had moved back to the first knot. He drew his pistol just as Manuela landed behind him. Both women untied the knots, and Sherry began reeling the rope back in, coiling it in her large pack. It only took a little extra time, and there was no trace they had been there. By the time Sherry reached them, everyone was armed and ready to go.

Sherry took the lead, gripping her Lightning Hawk as she swept the path ahead of them, creeping low along the overgrown decorative fencing. Leon followed after her, with Manuela watching the rear. Carefully, Sherry lead them across the plaza towards the destroyed restaurant. The building had been decorated to look like an old fashioned Midwestern American diner, but the paint had chipped in so many places that only the slightest hint of the former peachy tone clung to the boards. The sign had long ago run out of power, hanging darkly above the door by the remains of its base, knocked off in some accident. As Sherry mounted the steps, she tread carefully to avoid stepping on glass fragments, slipping through the open door. Leon allowed Manuela to follow her in first, and he made sure they weren't being followed before stepping in himself.

Laid out on the ground was a Licker, its corpse faced away from the door. Now that they were closer, Leon could clearly see the bullet holes on its body, as well as the state of decomposition. Manuela knelt beside the body, inspecting it. "Looks fairly old. The blood on the ground has aged a bit."

Running a gloved hand over its hide, Manuela prodded and tested the resistance of its skin. "The muscles have clenched, so I'd say it's been dead for a bit. Could you flip it over?"

Sherry nodded, grabbing the limbs and tilting the body. She gasped and nearly dropped the body, flipping it to the other side in the process. Leon could barely believe what he saw. Someone had clearly dissected the thing. Nearly all of the internal cavity was exposed, and most of the organs had been removed.

"What the hell?!" Sherry took a half step back in surprise.

"Looks like someone took out its organs. Manuela, can you tell anything?"

"Give me a moment. Guard the door," Manuela commanded distractedly. Setting her pack down, she pulled out her examination kit, motioning for Sherry to assist her. While Sherry laid out the tools, Manuela set up a small tripod, setting her communication device on top before clicking on its camera function. "HQ, you getting the feed?"

"Yep. Looks like you found something for the research team. We'll get them up here as soon as possible."

"Thank you. I'll begin my examination in the meanwhile," Manuela affirmed. She shook her head to clear her thoughts before leaning closer, clicking on a headlamp to illuminate the insides better. "Alright, let's see. What have we got in here?"

"Doesn't look like they left much," Sherry commented. "You think it's the rangers? Have they formed a cult or something?"

"I doubt it. Leon and I have both seen a cult at work. This isn't like a cult. The organs aren't here, which suggests they were taken. And if you look here," Manuela pointed towards the portion of the cavity met the neck, "you can see some incisions. They're very clear and methodical. Exceptionally so. If whoever did this wasn't in a zombie infested city, I doubt we'd be able to even find them."

"It looks like they took just about everything they could reasonably. The bones would have been too massive to take without transportation. Even so, this must have taken more than one trip. That suggests that whoever did it has to have moved them somewhere reasonably close to here. I think the flag we saw earlier is our best bet. However," Manuela paused, reaching into the cavity with her serpent emblazoned knife. With a grunt, she cut away a section of flesh, using the tip of her knife to pry something out. It was a bullet. "I doubt our surgeon was the shooter. My theory is that the body was here before the surgeon got here. Our killer was the rangers, but Yoko is our surgeon."

"That means the rangers must have come through here at some point," Leon noted. "And if they're willing to come this far west, and with rifles no less, we're all in danger."

"Research team just got in," HQ announced, startling the three. "Miller arrived as well, and is ready for deployment when you're ready."

"Alright HQ, give us a moment," Leon answered before turning to the other two. "How long do you think you'll need to investigate the body?"

"Not long. Maybe an hour at most. HQ can look over the images more clearly at base. I just need to detail the body. After that, we can follow the trail."

Leon nodded, trying to get everything to line up. He needed to be there when they confronted Yoko. He had the highest chance of being able to communicate with her, though Sherry would be a close second. Manuela needed to remain with the body, and they still needed to head to the Dead Factory. The way things were falling, Yoko would slip further and further through their fingers. He had to make some tough choices. With a sigh, he explained his plan to HQ.

"Alright. Agent Hidalgo's going to stay here with Birkin in order to detail the body, and then pursue Yoko's trail. I'll head northeast towards the Dead Factory and meet Miller at the Hospital."

"Understood. We'll relay the instructions to Miller. HQ out."

"Are you sure about this Leon?" Sherry asked quietly, to which Leon just nodded.

"I have the most experience with the t-virus, so it'll be easier if I'm the one to go meet Angela. It would only waste time to have to take more than one trip, so I'm trusting you two to keep each other safe. If the trail runs cold and you can't pick up anything, take the subway system to the northeast. Some of the deeper repair tunnels should have been unaffected by the missiles. Understood."

"Yes sir," Sherry replied with a slight smile, mocking a salute. Manuela looked less convinced, but still nodded. Leon nodded back, moving to step out.

"Wait!' Manuela called, and Leon looked back, concerned that something was wrong. "Stay safe."

"You know I will," Leon replied with a smile and a wink before heading out the door, pistol in hand.

* * *

Leon had to admit it was a lot more creepy than he had expected. All around him, the mostly flattened ruins of the city sprawled for miles. Most of the time, they were too tall to see passed, but in a few places, he could catch a glimpse of the grey landscape and the horizon beyond the crater. The unholy moans of the infected sometimes echoed through the hollow shells, but for the most part Leon was able to avoid them. The suppressor was proving quite useful to prevent the infected from swarming him. A quick, pre-emptive shot to head was well worth the bullet it cost.

His mind wandered to how the group of survivors had managed to escape this hell. He could still clearly remember the city when it had become the burning domain of hell, and how many strong men and women he'd seen die at its hands. How eight normal people had survived was beyond him.

Then again, he supposed, Yoko was proving anything but normal. She and Kevin were the only ones that really had anything to do with the zone anymore. The others had either moved on, or contributed in other ways. He found it interesting that both Kevin and himself had continued to fight against the virus, even in different ways. Maybe it was the same set of ideals, after all, they had both been a member of the RCPD, even if only for a day. He doubted he could do the same thing Kevin did though. Watching every day over the remains of Raccoon City...it had to be gruelling. For once, Leon thought he had it easier, at least mentally.

Winding his way through the city, he thought back to the times he'd visited it before its unfortunate end. He'd been introduced to the place through his then-girlfriend. It was the largest city in miles, and thus the most interesting. It had grown on him surprisingly well. It had a certain quaint feeling to it, as many Midwestern towns did. Even so, they weren't at a lack of modern facilities, hosting both a university and a well-staffed hospital. Back when it was reputable, Umbrella had been one of the primary pharmaceutical countries in the world.

It was a lot like Tall Oaks in a way. He smiled as he thought about his new home. The town was also very small, but painted with that traditional New England look rather than Raccoon City's Midwestern one. At heart though they were the same. Tall Oaks' university was well-known, even if it wasn't significant compared to the Ivy Leagues, and the government presence in the town helped boost the general quality of living. It was like a better version of Raccoon City, free from the grasp of a horrific corporation that toyed with human lives. While the US' hands may not have been completely clean in his books, they were still doing their best for everyone, whether in their country or abroad.

"We're all done here. Moving to follow the trail. We'll keep you updated." Sherry's message was short and succinct. Leon smiled slightly; there were times he swore she was better at the whole "agent" thing than he was.

"Received." Leon allowed himself to slow down, knowing there'd likely be several updates in the next few minutes.

* * *

"Why is it always tunnels?" Sherry thought aloud.

The pair had followed gone to look at the further of the two flags, and found the arch was the decorative entrance to a subway tunnel. There was no doubt in either's mind that this was where their quarry had gone, but looking down into the darkness of the tunnel did not fill either of them with confidence. Both could faintly see the edge of light near the base though. Sherry sighed as she unslung her shield, adjusting her grip for a moment before taking the first step down into the darkness. Even with her enhanced vision, she couldn't see in the dark.

Manuela followed behind, toting her machine gun over her pistol. The lack of accuracy would be a non factor down in the dark. Each step kicked up mortar and dust, staining their boots in grey. Reaching the bottom, Sherry swung in a small arc, peering for potential attackers. She resisted the urge to snap her headlight on; the longer she could hold onto their stealth element, the better. Manuela didn't seem to notice anything, so Sherry felt that there was nothing obvious that was threatening them. Kneeling, she inspected the source of the light.

It was a hastily rigged device, that much was sure. It appeared to be temporary, since it wasn't tied down or secured in any fashion. As far as Sherry could tell, it was strictly battery powered, and caused a very small light bulb to give off a dim light. "I think our trail's going to be a bit dim."

"No kidding. I can just barely see the next one. It's following the train lines." Sherry squinted into the darkness, and was able to see the next light barely peeking through the gap in an abandoned subway train. She doubted anyone would have noticed if they hadn't been looking.

"Alright. Just stay behind me," Sherry commanded, taking the lead. Carefully, she stepped down off the platform, leaping away from the dangerous third rail. She doubted the power was still working, but it would serve to be safe rather than sorry. Upon hearing Manuela's boots land behind her, she began creeping along the tunnel, feeling the looming shape of the ruined subway train beside her.

"Did HQ send you the tunnel maps?" Sherry asked quietly, turning to look at Manuela. In the dark light, the woman's eyes had a slight, eerie red glow to them, and Sherry could see her own eyes, illuminated in a gentle purple in Manuela's face plate. For a brief moment, neither woman could say anything as they saw their respective irises.

"Uh...yeah. One sec, let me pull them up," Manuela managed at last, pulling out her com device. Focusing on the small screen, she eventually found it. "Alright...looks like this segment of tunnel has a repair tunnel running next to it, but they don't meet up for a few hundred feet. There's an actual descent platform, so we'll be able to see it when we get close."

Sherry turned to look into the darkness, mentally trying to gauge the distance. Motioning for them to continue, Sherry began counting her steps, tracking how far they'd gone as they approached the small light. Reaching into the shattered headlight compartment, Sherry withdrew another cobbled together light, inspecting it. "It's got almost the exact same design. Someone's been planning this."

Sherry heard the sound of boots back near the entrance and spun around, able to see the figures of several humans in the light coming from above. In a moment, she was able to tell that they were searching, likely for Manuela and herself. Sherry motioned for Manuela to follow her. Silently, Sherry stepped around the side of the train, ducking to fit between the toppled machine and the wall.

"Where'd they go?" asked one of the voices quietly. Sherry grinned to herself as she listened. Even with the slight enhancement from the tunnel, she doubted that a normal human would have been able to make out the words as well.

"Keep your trap shut," warned another. "They can't be far away."

Sherry stepped carefully into the train, softly testing each step before trusting it. The angled floor was awkward, but not impossible. Creeping upwards, she pressed herself against the wall near one of the doors, Lightning Hawk in hand. Manuela moved up next to her, readying her machine gun.

" _Message HQ. Ask for permission to engage,_ " Sherry signalled out. Manuela nodded in response, typing a quick message to HQ. Their response was received only moments later.

 _Permission to engage granted. Authorization of lethal force granted._ Sherry and Manuela met gazes, standing simultaneously, their fingers tightening on the triggers.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 05

Leon's muscles strained by the time he reached the top of the long rope they had use to enter the city. To his relief, it didn't so much as stretch at any point during the climb. Reaching the top, he braced himself for the most physically draining part; cresting the ledge. Placing his feet against the cement carefully, he looked up to see someone offering a hand towards him.

"Need a hand?"

Angela Miller leaned over the edge, bracing herself against the cracked concrete. Her face was obscured by the gas mask that Leon's team had been equipped with, but he could still see the signs of wear that a year had taken. Even so, she still carried her youthful appearance. Leon grabbed her hand, and was surprised at the strength she managed in pulling him up.

"Thanks for the lift," Leon greeted back, observing his new companion. She seemed like an entirely different person. Any former timidness was gone, and she stood with a sort of cautious and alert air to her. Leon noticed that she hadn't changed her preference in weapons, still using a rifle. He did notice however that she also carry a pistol, and what seemed like an inordinate amount of grenades. "I thought you went back to the SRT."

"Let's walk and talk," Angela prompted. Leon nodded in agreement, and the two began walking along the ruined highway, weapons ready. Silence reigned over them for a minute, and the rush of wind could be heard moving through the shattered buildings. "I did go back to the SRT, just for the record."

"I take it that didn't last long?"

"After Harvardville...it all seemed so meaningless. I'd lost my brother and his family to the viruses. Every day I showed up for work and I just...couldn't do it. When we were called into the field, it was to fight domestic terrorists, and even then we were barely called at all. Every day I heard the stories of the BSAA fighting out in the field to save people. So I resigned from the SRT. I've been fighting bioterrorism ever since."

"Not many would have the courage to do the same. Fighting these viruses involves risking your life, even with the vaccine."

"I'm willing to risk my life if it means saving others. It's what my brother believed in, and it's what I believe in, even if we don't use the same methods."

"Your brother was right. He was just pushed too far and made a bad choice." Angela nodded, but didn't say anything else. He caught her looking around at the wasteland in awe a couple of times though. "Hard to believe it's been eight years."

"I'm surprised that this area's still a threat. I would have thought that it would have been cleaned by now. When I was informed that I might be called in for a mission for the government, I was ready for a lot of things. I wasn't ready for...this."

"This was one of the original sites of the world's first exposure to the virus. The other's just in those mountains over there," Leon gestured. "By the time I arrived in the city, it was already overrun. This is nothing compared to the nightmare it was."

"The G-Virus was first seen here, wasn't it?" Angela asked, stopping in her tracks. Leon nodded quietly.

"Yeah. This was the place. A scientist by the name of William Birkin created it as a better version of the t-virus."

"Sherry Birkin's father," Angela noted tonelessly. Leon immediately tensed, sensing the unmentioned hostility.

"Yes. After his infection, he tried to hunt her down and infect her with the G-Virus." Leon waited a moment, watching the woman for any sign of reaction. How much did she know, Leon wondered. After a moment, Angela stepped forward and continued walking.

"I read the mission briefing, but it wasn't really updated for the change in plan. Mind catching me up?"

"Sure thing. Sherry and Manuela are pursuing our target just south of here, in the ruins of the zoo," Leon explained, stopping to point out the patch of green. He turned eastward, pointing at the ruined shell of the hospital. "That's our goal for now. Our mission is to reach the Dead Factory, over in the foothills. Once there, HQ will drop surveillance equipment and we'll bug the place. That way if Yoko escapes the other two, we'll be able to see if she gets in."

"What is this 'Dead Factory?' Why are we watching it?"

"It's where Umbrella dumped its failed experiments, but it also has a passage to the main lab. The primary entrance was sealed in the detonation, but it can still be reached through the Dead Factory. We're not sure what kind of research Yoko is doing, but if she reaches the Dead Factory, it could well some terrible things. If she doesn't die from the radiation first."

"I thought the missile wasn't nuclear," Angela thought aloud with a frown.

"It wasn't. Umbrella was never big on safety. Their main lab was nuclear powered, and the missiles caused it to leak. It's mainly contained underground, but it won't matter if she enters the heart."

"I guess we better hurry then," Angela stated, picking up her pace to a comfortable jog.

"Guess we better," Leon muttered, catching up to her.

* * *

Manuela knelt beside the bodies of the men. They had barely been prepared to fight intelligent enemies. Clicking on her headlight, she began investigating the bodies. The men had barely reacted to being shot, and their pallor was less than comforting. It only got worse when she got close enough that her Geiger counter was able to go off.

"Jesus," Sherry muttered as she heard the sound. Looking over the bodies, she could see the telltale lack of hair and discolouration across the skin. "These men were practically dead."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were the ones sent after us on purpose. With advanced symptoms like these, they'd have been lucky to survive if they had access to medical help. Give me a moment to get pictures of their faces, see if we get any hits from HQ." Manuela carefully avoided touching the bodies while she took pictures. After sending them, she waited a moment before a message was sent back. "They say our signal's weak. They'll work on the references, but we probably won't be able to contact them until we reach another place closer to the surface."

"I'll tell Leon." Sherry turned aside while Manuela finished up her search of their persons. "Leon, you read me?"

"Yeah. You're a bit fuzzy though. Just met with Angela. We're headed to our objective."

"We just engaged with some hostiles. They exhibited signs of severe radiation poisoning. It's likely that the rangers have found some way into the labs." The line went silent except for the sound of Leon's breathing. Sherry waited nervously for a moment before answering.

"What's your current plan?"

"Manuela and I are tracking Yoko through the tunnels. We're going to be out of signal until we come above ground again, so we'll be unable to reach you."

"Okay. I'll keep in touch with HQ with the situation. Once you resurface, head towards the east and we'll meet up. I get the feeling that we're going to have to take down the rangers. If not, then we'll be able to rendezvous and either take Yoko back if you've captured her, or pursue her together."

"Understood. Sherry out."

"Leon out." With that, the line went silent. Sherry turned to Manuela, who was dusting herself off.

"All ready to go if you are captain. You're really taking charge, you know that right?"

Sherry was surprised by the question, but as she thought about it, she supposed Manuela was right. Since they'd entered the city, she'd been growing bolder, even though the whole place set her on edge. It just felt...natural.

"Leon's still better than I am, and you have more experience," Sherry offered, trying to wave away the compliment. Manuela just smiled and shook her head, stepping back off the platform. She assisted Sherry down before turning her headlamp back off. It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, but soon they were once again headed along the subway track, the oppressive silence of the stoney tunnel surrounding them.

As they rounded the bend, the light from the outside world was blocked, and Sherry could more clearly see the light ahead of them. It was centered above the ground, and in its faint illumination she could see that it was fixed to a railing. She quickly realized it was the access platform. Stepping over the rails, she hugged the wall as she mounted the steps. She moved quickly to break the plane of the door, Manuela taking the other side. With a flurry of motions, they plotted their entrance. Sherry unslung her shield while Manuela laid her hand quietly on the handle. Sherry watched closely as Manuela silently counted down. Sherry could feel time slowing down as the word "one" left Manuela's lips.

Sherry nearly let out her held breath with how her body reacted. As the door cracked open and she began to turn, she could see more clearly as the light seemed to get brighter. She could feel herself moving quickly, even as everything slowed down. Once her shield was through the door, it was quickly raised and she scanned down the tunnel, her gun twitching along with her eyes. She didn't even need to look to feel Manuela swing behind her, facing the other direction. For a brief moment, the tension was unbearable, but soon the light began to fade and time seemed to go back to normal as Sherry relaxed, finally letting out her breath.

A quick glance at Manuela confirmed the other direction was all clear as well. Turning back to her side, she could once again see the light of their trail ahead of them in the form of light filtering around the corner. Unlike the previously ones, this was much brighter.

Moving forward cautiously, Sherry adjusted her grip on the shield, feeling a sense of increasing anxiety as she approached. Something about it didn't strike her as right. The path seemed far too planned for someone who had just arrived in the zone. She doubted that even the border guards knew the locale as well as this person seemed to. Her thoughts were cut off as she peered around the corner and she saw the source of the light.

One of the maintenance rooms had been converted into a sort of safe house. Cabinets formerly used for electronics or tools now had various survival implements housed in them, including more than a few weapons. Though she doubted all the lab equipment was survival oriented. Among the older renovations, there were several pieces of equipment that Sherry had no doubt were Umbrella made. She could easily have envisioned a Tyrant or Hunter inside one of them. The room was eerily empty otherwise.

Sherry nearly wretched as she saw the mess on the table. They had found the missing organs alright. The flesh in question had been placed on the table, eviscerated with surgical precision. A small tray of tools lay off to the side, stained in the sickly yellow tinted blood of the infected.

"Looks like an autopsy," Manuela noted, approaching the table curiously. Holstering her gun, she leaned against the table, inspecting the layout. Sherry watched as she subtly altered her posture, as if trying to work her way through the mind of whoever had set it up. "The tools are within arm's reach...and the first organs cut were the ones in front…"

"I'm going to take a look around the room and see what I can find," Sherry commented. Manuela nodded, still thinking. Turning, Sherry surveyed the other half of the room. It was a bare minimum living space, though it looked barely lived in. She could see a few boxes she presumed were filled with more items. What caught her eye was the fact that no bed had been set up, despite her being able to see several items that looked like a mobile cot set up. Instead, a filing cabinet was the predominant piece of decor aside from the tubes and lab equipment. Even more interestingly, it seemed of a different design than the lab equipment. It wouldn't have looked out of place in an office.

Kneeling down, she tried the handle, unsurprised to find it locked. She doubted that whoever was running the joint would have left a key around. She briefly considered attempting to force her way in, but that would leave obvious evidence of their entry. Instead, she fished inside her coat pocket, retrieving the lockpicking set they'd given her. Both she and Manuela had been given rudimentary training in the craft. Still, there was something cathartic and easy about just busting through, but that would have its time, if the extra weight in her pack meant anything.

She smiled as she felt the lock yield to her, and she carefully opened the drawer. As expected, it had several files inside, with room for plenty more. Drawing one out, she began reading the contents. It appeared to be some form of communications log. Whoever had written it had painstakingly edited the log, often adding segments to where there seemed to have been gaps or replaced words.

" _In exchange for getting you in, we want our concessions_." The author had added a note here, referencing another page. " _We provide the material, you provide your knowledge._ "

" _Of course. Just make sure the lab is setup properly. I won't be able to do anything unless it's up to my standards._ " Sherry presumed the speaker was Yoko, though she worked under the assumption it could be anyone. The way the speaker talked soundly very little like the woman she'd been informed Yoko was. The words "standards" and "talents" were thrown around a lot, as if trying to inflate the speaker's ego. From what she'd heard, Yoko was fairly quiet and had a lack of confidence, especially after her memories returned. Sherry's attention was grabbed by a line further down from the speaker. " _Just so we're clear, you do have the Nyx and R specimens, correct? I want evidence, or the deal's off._ "

Sherry's eyes widened as she saw the pictures attached to the page. She recognized the creatures from the concept drawings they'd been provided with beforehand. It was definitely the Nyx and R Tyrants. Sherry counted her lucky stars that they appeared to be corpses, and largely destroyed at that. Still, somehow the rangers had gotten their hands on the creatures largely intact. The bodies themselves were preserved in tubes that she had no doubt were of Umbrella stock. That meant the bodies had been sitting there for about eight years.

Eight years of potential B.O.W. research on two of the most powerful Tyrants to have existed. The transcript seemed to indicate the rangers lacked any kind of biological science proficiency, which is why they were willing to work with their outside contact. It was sheer luck that the rangers hadn't been able to make anything with the horrors they held.

"Manuela, we've got a problem." Sherry turned towards her compatriot, rushing over with file in hand. Holding it up, she began pointing as she spoke. "They have Nyx AND the Tyrant R."

Manuela visibly paled as she gingerly took the file, reading the passages herself. "This is...terrible. How did they…? The bodies should have been destroyed in the blast!"

"The site of the final fights were near the borders. They could have been missed. We have to contact HQ."

"You're right, but it's too close to night. If we head to the surface, we'll get swarmed. What we need to do is find out where our resident went."

"Right, well, there's only one other way out," Sherry noted, and both of them turned to the other door. "It's better than anything we've got so far."

"Alright, but first, I've discovered something about the operations our resident was performing." Manuela motioned for Sherry to accompany her to the table. "First of all, they just started. Barely any of the organs have any kind of incision in them, and the only ones that do are the ones directly in front of us. The incisions were meticulous, which makes me think that the person's trying to catalogue it as carefully as possible. I don't think they had time to write it down though."

"What makes you say that?"

"This person obviously is focused. Look at these notes you found. When they had times, they tracked everything and even cross referenced. There's not even a bed set up yet. Here, we have the beginnings of a surgery, but it was incomplete. No notes, no preparation, no preservation. I think they were taken somewhere in a hurry."

"You think it was the rangers?"

"It sounds likely. They'll want to see their contact to make sure it wasn't all a ploy. They're crazy, not stupid. Our resident did expect to be back though, which works in our favour. If we can determine which way they left, we might be able to catch them on the return."

"Sounds like a plan. I'm just confused about one last thing. Why would they copy the transcripts. It gives them no new information, and it only incriminates them. Why would they risk that?" Sherry asked. Manuela was silent, and neither seemed to be able to draw a conclusions until Sherry felt an idea stirring in her brain. "Unless...unless they wanted it to be found. Or at least used."

"What do you mean?"

"If it _is_ Yoko, then the documents sound different to how she's been described. She might have been faking the persona used in the message. If that's the case, then she might well be trying to expose something."

"It sounds possible, but we can't assume anything. If that is the case, we'll have the chance to ask her soon enough," Manuela pointed out. "First, we have to find how she got out of here so fast."

"I have an idea about that one," Sherry smiled mischievously, motioning for Manuela to follow her. Heading through the other door, Sherry lead Manuela along the tunnel until they reached another maintenance access. Stepping onto the platform, Sherry clicked on her headlight, looking down at the tracks.

"They've been used recently."

"My guess is a hand cart. It's a fast and safe way to travel around the town. Not to mention that you could probably carry all kinds of equipment with you if you set up the carts right. It's how I would do it."

"The pattern of usage heads off towards the east, where the rangers are."

"So that's where they'll be coming from. And we'll be ready when they return."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Apologies for the late chapter. I had it ready a while ago, but I try to keep religiously to a release schedule. I just forgot to upload it last week, and almost again this week!

Chapter 5

Kevin leaned over the map, a scowl set on his expression. Despite the situation, he reminded himself of the positives, not that there were many. Still, it could only improve his outlook.

Firstly, even though he was technically still being detained for assisting the entrance of Yoko they were allowing him a lot of freedom. He knew more about the zone than anyone else, and was more than willing to help. Since the team's departure, he'd been working tirelessly to monitor the situation, digging deep into his memories in order to remember any details that might have escaped him.

Second, the agents still seemed to be fine, much to his surprise. He'd expected that anyone going into the zone would have been killed fairly mercilessly. Glancing over at the agents' files, he supposed he shouldn't have been _that_ surprised. They'd accomplished a lot, against odds stacked considerably higher.

Finally, things seemed to be going well. One of the teams was well on the way to the Dead Factory, while the other was presumably tracking Yoko. He was a little concerned about the radio silence, but he understood that was part of traversing the underground.

Straightening up, he groaned as his back popped. It became apparent to him that he had been spending entirely too long leaning over the map. It felt like he wasn't accomplishing anything, and a glance out the window could tell him easily that night was swiftly falling. Another day had escaped them.

"Give me the sweep reports," he commanded. One of the operators nodded, reaching over to a slightly messy pile of files, quickly delivering the requested info. Kevin nodded his thanks before flipping it open, observing the photos. The resolution was too low to spot many details, so he doubted they'd find any kind of trail that way.

Kevin sighed as he rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit of sweat from all his concentration. He'd always had to fight with one arm tied behind his back. The equipment they were given was dated, and often in less than stellar condition. The one upside was that they were largely left alone, and so a few less than standard modifications to the devices were overlooked. Still, they were repairs at best, not improvements. The grainy quality of the photos attested to that.

"What do our infected compositions look like?"

"We're seeing normal levels of Lickers, but not a lot of standard zombies. We suspect that, in the light of recent evidence, the rangers have been clearing them out on this side." Kevin turned to the speaker, Rowena Mason. The raven haired woman was never seen without her lab coat, and now was no exception. "The ecosystem will have to adapt to the shift."

"I still can't believe they've even got their own ecosystem," muttered Brannigan, and Kevin nodded his agreement.

Even with the rise of bioterrorism, there had been very few widespread or successful attacks. The areas that were hit hard had lasting impacts. The "viral ecosystem" effect had first been observed from their very base, several years ago. It hadn't been long after Mason had transferred to the base. She had compiled the reports of activity in the region and reached a conclusion: there was a natural balance in the way the infection worked. He could still clearly remember the day she had presented her findings to him.

* * *

 _Kevin wouldn't have said that Dr. Mason and he were friends as much as trusting colleagues. She technically wasn't under his command, being part of a separate research team, but her expertise helped his men, and his men kept her safe, so there was a measure of respect on both sides. Even so, Kevin had the final say of how welcome she was at the base._

 _Her personnel file was impressive. She'd already done extensive research with viruses, and was among those who had shifted focus to the t-virus after Raccoon City. She hadn't lost anyone personally, but saw her opportunity to enter into a new field. He couldn't begrudge her wanting to move up in life. So he decided to let her try staying at the base, see what she could do._

 _Almost immediately, she got to work. While it took her a couple of weeks to get used to all the rules and procedures, she navigated them expertly after that. She never once missed a single meeting, always being nearby when something happened. Even if she didn't have anything to say on a subject, she listened patiently, something Kevin appreciated. Too many times he'd dealt with the kind of scientist who wanted everything to revolve around them._

 _When she had asked his personal permission to have the men record categories and quantities of infected they ran across, he had asked her what she was looking for. The normally focused and determined doctor had been rather silent then, and Kevin would even dare to say unsure._

" _I have a theory. It might be nothing, but I want to be sure." That was all she had been willing to divulge on the subject. After reassuring him that nothing harmful would come of it, he had approved the research. A short while later, it faded into the back of his mind as the pressures of day to day operation overshadowed it._

 _Until the doctor had asked to meet to discuss results. Kevin now sat in his office, waiting for the doctor. He had excused himself early from the HQ as a sense of dread overtook him. Brannigan had been more than willing to hold down the fort while he talked with the doctor._

 _Glancing at the clock, he knew that the doctor had probably arrived. His guess was soon proven correct as his door opened and the doctor stepped in nervously. Everything about her demeanour was off compared to normal. Whenever he saw her working, she was straight backed, reserved, and intense. Now, she seemed almost reluctant to enter._

" _Come in doctor. Have a seat," Kevin offered, trying to allay whatever was eating at her. "I assume this is about your research?"_

" _Yes…" she answered at length, sitting down. Kevin noticed she was still holding the file in her hands, as if debating whether to hand it over or leave the room and pretend nothing had happened. Mason chewed her lip a little before taking a breath and fixing him with a very focused and serious expression. "Commander, I want to make some things clear before we discuss the results."_

" _Of course. What is it?"_

" _You are aware, as I am, of the existence of people who revere the virus, and praise it as either the epitome of science or god. I want you to know I am neither of those kind of people. The virus is an evil, sick thing that has taken far too many lives. Do you understand?"_

" _I do. No one's calling your reasons into question. Even if you did, you've done a lot of good work here. You don't threaten my men, and I don't care what you think of the virus."_

 _Mason nodded looking relieved. Finally she set the file on the table, opening it slowly. Picking through the stacks of paper, she laid a single page in front of him, featuring a graphs with a few sets of lines across it. Kevin gently took the paper from her, looking closer at the chart. Inspecting the key, he saw that each line corresponded to a specific type of creature, and he was surprised to find both natural animals like deer and boar, as well as zombies and Lickers. Still, he wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for._

" _Might I ask what I'm supposed to be seeing? You'll have to forgive me doctor, I haven't taken a science course in years," he apologized, and the doctor gave a light smile, feeling lightened by the jest. She leaned forward a little to more clearly see the chart and she began pointing out features as she spoke._

" _At first, I only asked your men to track the levels of infected specimens, both in terms of the Lickers and zombies. That's this part of the graph," she explained, pointing to the left most side, where only two lines existed. "As zombie populations go down, Lickers tend to go up slightly."_

" _We already know that zombies turn into Lickers with enough time doctor," Kevin pointed out. "What do the animals have to do with this?"_

" _The zombies don't have enough cellular activity to sustain themselves indefinitely. They had to be consuming something to keep going, and while they could eat each other, that would only lead to an overall decline in population, you understand?"_

" _Of course." Looking at the graph again, Kevin could see that there were only a couple of declines over the span. "It looks mostly consistent across the board."_

" _Exactly. So my thought was that they must be getting their sustenance from something else. I asked the men to begin recording the presence of animals near the borders or inside. When you add that in…" she slid her finger to where the other lines were and Kevin could see what she was hinting at. Every time the animal population went up, the zombies declined less, but with a fall, the population fell as well. He noticed a few more lines added in near the end to monitor zombified animals and realized that while the humanoid population was declining, the animal population was increasing. "You see the trend, right?"_

" _Yes...I do," Kevin mumbled, leaning back in his seat. The information troubled him, but he couldn't put his finger on why. He looked to the doctor, who met his own troubled gaze with one of her own._

" _I ran the numbers, and this isn't just a direct relation. It almost perfectly matches population models, with some additions to account for the change of zombies to Lickers. What we're seeing here is an ecosystem. There's a balance in there. You can even see when it was upset. You remember when the local government cracked down hunting for that short time?"_

" _I do. It didn't last long."_

" _You can see it on here." Mason pointed to an increase in the deer population, and Kevin noted that the population of the zombies stayed almost flat during that time, and even increased in a couple of places. "It's incredible really."_

 _Kevin nodded silently, forcing himself to put the paper down. "So what does it mean, doc?"_

" _My models suggest that the population will taper off over time. We're not sure how long Lickers can live, but without influxes of humans, the zombies will die off. Someday, we might even be able to enter the zone in order to sterilize it. But that's not the immediate finding. This suggests that in an uncontrolled situation, the virus could sustain its cycle indefinitely. The wall was built around Raccoon City quickly, and had very little difficulty to do so. But Raccoon City was in the middle of the American Midwest, a very flat, easy to observe location. If the virus spread somewhere isolated and hard to contain…"_

" _We'd never be able to get rid of it," Kevin realized aloud. Mason nodded solemnly. "Shit...what do you propose doctor?"_

" _I need to run the data for longer, and contact some other specialists to run the numbers as well. We need to be sure of what we're seeing here before we say anything. But after that, I suggest we show the data to the proper committees and take action from there. If this is as it looks, we should at least be able to adapt tactics to contain it."_

" _Alright. Take whatever measures you deem necessary to get the information you need. If you need to bring in more scientists, I'll do my best to get them cleared. I will put as many resources as I can spare towards this," Kevin promised, standing up. "Is there anything else?"_

" _Nothing else sir. I'll leave the file with you to peruse as you have the time. Thank you for your help. I'll get to work immediately," Mason said with a bow, quickly leaving the room. Kevin watched her go before grabbing his phone. He had a lot of calls to make._

* * *

"Get me some models on the expected reaction. If the infected population is going to be low, we might be called to take advantage of it," he requested before turning to Brannigan. "I want everyone on high alert and ready to move out at a moment's notice. Make sure all the vehicles are in operating condition as well."

"Understood, Commander," Brannigan saluted, hurrying off to carry out his orders. Kevin was about to turn to the map when he noticed Mason was still waiting.

"What's going on?" she asked, watching as everyone began to flurry about in activity.

"We're getting ready to take advantage of an opportunity given to us. The rangers got greedy. If they've been clearing out the areas leading to their base, we'll have an easier time pursuing them and eliminating them. We might not get the chance to do this again. By routing them now, we eliminate any chance of inside assistance for others getting in, which brings us one step closer to getting the region ready to sterilize. If we can remove all the humans in the zone, then there's no problem with levelling the infected that remain. We might not be allowed to bomb the bastards, but we can sure as hell fight them."

"I see. We'll want to inform the agents of this, I assume?"

"Of course. I've got a feeling that they'll be just what we need to gain the upper hand."

* * *

"Understood. Leon out." Leon heard the line go dead as the operator signed out and he paused a moment, standing by the window of the hospital room they'd holed up in. Peering into the darkness, he almost imagined the men in the distance, preparing.

"What was that about?" Angela asked, looking over her shoulder from her chair by the radiator. Leon decided against taking a seat himself, as he continued to look out the window through the barricades, adjusting the grip on his rifle.

"A message from the Commander. Apparently the rangers have been pushing around the west side of the crater, presumably to accommodate Yoko. It's left them vulnerable though. They're thinking about deploying a sizeable force to try and take out the ranger base."

"How do they intend to manage that?" Angela asked incredulously.

"Assuming we don't find it in the process of tracking down Yoko, they're being more active. It wouldn't take too long for the drones to be able to approximate where their base is. It's actually more likely that we'll find it. In that case, we'll provide them with the coordinates and leave while they assault. Not only will they be able to attack, but the assault will prevent the rangers from striking back when we grab Yoko."

"Seems fairly well thought out. Commander Ryman seems like he knows what he's doing."

"He's been here for years. This has probably been the plan for a long time, they just needed the right moment." Angela didn't say anything, just nodding in acknowledgement. At length, Leon decided to step away from the window and take a seat by the radiator, enjoying the warmth against his gloves. The two sat in comfortable silence for a while, removed from the infected on the ground level.

"It's been a long year hasn't it? How have you all been holding up during all of this?"

"We've been alright. After the BSAA incident, it hit everyone pretty hard."

"I heard about that. Claire's brother was involved, right? She doing alright?"

"Last time we met, she seemed to be doing alright. She's more worried about him than herself. He's already returned to duty, and Claire's off to some island on TerraSave's behalf."

"Seems like you all are back to work as well," Angela noted.

"What can I say? No rest for the wicked," Leon joked.

"No kidding. This is actually the tamest job I've had in my awhile. Usually, we're deployed while the shit's still hitting the fan."

"What organization is it that you work for anyway?"

"United States Anti-Biohazard Service. It was formed as part of the legislature almost immediately after Harvardville."

"I remember. Nearly every Senator from coast to coast was behind it."

"They'd have to be crazy to not to. Raccoon City was terrible, but it was carefully managed. Harvardville, not so much. If they didn't respond, it would have caused panic."

"Doesn't mean the Senators didn't benefit from it," Leon pointed out, checking his pistol.

"You're right there. Even Davis benefited. Well, before…" Angela trailed. Leon nodded as he remembered the headline. While he hadn't liked the man, it was still a tragedy that he'd been killed. He'd been another man killed in the ongoing battle against Umbrella's legacy.

"We should get some rest. It's late," Leon decided.

Angela nodded, standing up. "I'll take first watch. You need the chance to refresh."

Leon nodded, deciding against arguing as he walked over to the bed, collapsing on it with a sigh. It didn't take too long before he was asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The sound of rolling metal came down the tunnel, and the dim effect of a light began to grow around the bend. A few moments later, the source emerged, illuminating the platform. As it approached, a pair of figures on top of a rolling platform quickly moved, causing the whole thing to slow with a horrifying screech of metal on metal. The platform decelerated quickly, stopping next to the maintenance door.

Manuela squinted as she watched through the small device in her hand. The camera they had set above the door was of good quality, but it still had trouble seeing with the contrast in light. Even so, she could see that three figures were on the platform. Two of them were wrapped in the same heavy clothing as the rangers, and judging by their position on the cart, they must have been the ones doing the transport detail.

The third stepped off the cart, and Manuela got a clear view of her face as she approached the door, her face basked in the reflection from the metal door. Yoko Suzuki. Manuela angled the device so that Sherry could confirm it as well, and the younger woman nodded intently, shifting her gear quietly as she stood up, ready to move out from the ruined train in order to flank the lab. Both of them watched as the men on the cart began working back into motion, causing the platform to start sliding backwards, disappearing off screen back into the darkness it had arrived from. Yoko watched the cart for a moment before entering though the door.

"Alright, go, go!" Manuela commanded, motioning for Sherry to get moving. The blonde didn't need to be told again, as she was practically out of the train by the time Manuela hit the tracks. Wasting no time, Manuela hurried silently towards the door they had first entered through, readying herself. Checking her watch, she watched the seconds tick by, and all she could hear was the sound of her own breathing. Mentally, she counted the seconds, feeling everything begin to slow down as she did. The moment of breach approached, and she took a deep breath, slipping into her agent mindset.

Everything nonvital began to fade away in her mind, and in that moment, she could feel her senses working overtime. The sound of her uniform, the slight sound of her hands against her gun, it was all amped up. Finally, she watched as the hand ticked into position, and she opened the door silently, feeling lighter on her feet than she'd ever been. Gliding silently along the wall, she stuck to the shadows, approaching the room. As the room came into view, she could see the other door, behind which Sherry would be waiting, in case things went south. She allowed a small breath and she could almost sense the position of both her partner and their target. It was like a strange warmth that pressed against her skin. Yoko was the closer of the two, and so Manuela felt her more presently.

Pressing against the corner, Manuela peered out with her peripheral vision, able to see clear as day despite the angle. Yoko had wasted no time settling back over the table, and was just putting on her mask and surgical gloves. Slowly, Manuela stepped around the corner, aiming her gun at Yoko. "Freeze where you are and put your hands up."

Yoko twitched slightly in surprise at the sudden intrusion, but she obliged, slowly raising her hands. Her whole body seemed tense, but Manuela didn't sense any kind of immediate flight response on her, nor did she feel like she was going to attack. "Turn around."

Yoko followed this command more eagerly, turning her head before her body. Her eyes immediately swept from head downwards, catching on Manuela's arm, where she doubtlessly saw the American Flag. To Manuela's surprise, the woman sighed in relief, looking a lot calmer. "I thought you guys would be coming."

"Step away from the table please."

"Of course. Trust me, I'm on your side here," Yoko assured, stepping forward slightly. Manuela glanced over at the other door, nodding her head as a silent command. The door opened and Sherry slipped in, looking mildly menacing in her full combat gear. Yoko seemed slightly nervous by the sudden addition but regained control of herself quickly.

"We were sent to retrieve you," Manuela explained.

"I can't go yet," Yoko insisted, stepping back as Manuela moved forward to restrain her. Sherry raised her gun menacingly to dissuade Yoko from trying anything. "Please, can we at least talk? I am more than willing to tell you what's been going on."

"Once you're restrained, we can talk. If you really want to help, don't resist." Manuela tried moving forward again, and this time Yoko didn't react. Carefully, she put the cuffs on, before stepping back. "Alright. Take a seat. Let's talk."

Yoko nodded, taking a seat on one of the boxes, while Manuela sat across from her. Manuela nodded to Sherry before handing her the camera feed. Sherry took her seat on a box close to the hall, while monitoring the screen carefully.

"Why did you come here?"

"After Raccoon City, I was one of the people who helped bring down Umbrella. I was hailed as a hero for my role in their downfall. But every day I had to go on knowing that the worst specimens, the Tyrants, were my fault. Through each of their monstrous bodies, my cells coursed through every vein and artery. It was hell. Do you know what it's like to have that kind of burden?"

"You'd be surprised," Manuela replied. Yoko looked at her strangely, squinting to more clearly see through the faceplate. Leaning closer, Manuela allowed her to take a good look, and she could see in the reflection that the light caught her eyes just right, revealing the dark red that hid within them. Yoko's breath hiked and she leaned back in surprise.

"You're the agent from the Harvardville Incident! I...I'm sorry, I didn't realize," Yoko apologized.

"It's alright. The helmet's there for a reason," Manuela pointed out, waving off Yoko's concern. "But back to the point: what made you come in here?"

"For the longest time, I tried to work on the t-virus, and find a vaccine, but I wasn't exactly trained in anti-virals. There wasn't a lot of progress being made, and no matter how hard we tried, the we couldn't crack the Tyrant genetic code."

"You say we, but we have no records of you after Raccoon City. Who were you working with?"

"Anyone who I thought could help. I didn't ever apply under my actual name. After Raccoon City, I never used my name. It would have made me an easy target for the remaining Umbrella members. It just became habit to avoid detection, even after they were gone."

"So why did you only come now?"

"Because of you, actually. When the virus hit Harvardville, I decided that I had to crack the code. Even though they created the antiviral, they still hadn't dealt with the Tyrants. The only place I knew that I could research what I needed to was here."

"But there haven't been any reports of Tyrants in the zone," Manuela pointed out.

"The rangers have a couple. They're dead, but the bodies were preserved. They have the R and Nyx Tyrant corpses."

"They...what?" Manuela felt her mouth go dry and she could see Sherry look up in horror from the monitor. The room fell deathly silent as the information sank in. Manuela's mind flashed to the artist concepts that had been drawn of the aforementioned Tyrants. The Nyx Tyrant particularly disturbed her; the hulking mass of half formed monster had been one of the most difficult enemies the survivors had come across. It wasn't nearly as resilient as the Tyrant R, but its ability to absorb other mutations was unsettling. The thing also bore an uncanny resemblance to William Birkin's final form aboard the train, and she could only imagine what that made Sherry feel.

"I'm not sure how they thought to do it, but somehow they managed to cart off the bodies for preservation. I just saw them myself."

"You went to their base just now?"

"Correct. If I had the capability, I would have taken pictures. Needless to say, I memorized as much as possible. I could provide your teams with accurate maps of the passage I was brought through, as well as a rough approximation of where they're hiding."

"It would help greatly," Manuela agreed, offering Yoko some papers from her desk, as well as a folder to write against. Yoko struggled for a moment to adjust it so that she could write while handcuffed, but managed. "We have many questions you still need to answer."

"I know," Yoko sighed, not looking up from her diagram. "I'll be happy to answer anything you want to ask after the Tyrants are seized from their possession; on one condition."

"You're not really in a position to negotiate," Manuela pointed out.

"I know that very well. But I will not cooperate with you beyond this point if you don't listen to me. I'm fine with assisting in their downfall, considering the risk they pose. But you can't destroy the Tyrants," Yoko insisted. Manuela began to speak, but Yoko spoke forcefully, trying to get her words in. "These creatures are horrific mutations, but we still don't understand them after all this time! If we can look at the both of them, we might finally understand what makes a Tyrant! Just think about it! If we can figure out what makes a Tyrant, then we can take steps to prevent them. People with genetic markers could get special injections to prevent the Tyrant mutation from activating, or we could find some kind of weapon that would be able to target the mutated Tyrant gene in order to bring the creatures down."

Manuela was silent as she listened to Yoko's rationale. "I see your point. If it were up to me, I would look for the possible uses of the information, but the government might decide that it's too risky. Even if they agree with you and me, the situation might call for the destruction of the site."

"What do you mean?"

"If we invade, and they fight back, nothing's stopping them from taking some of the Tyrant material and injecting it. I'm not sure what would happen, but I doubt it would be pretty."

"It would be a horrible loss, but I see your point," Yoko admitted with a sigh. "At least try and convince the higher ups that it's worth their investment. Please?"

"Everyone quiet," Sherry whispered viciously. "We've got some Lickers."

The air turned tense and Manuela quickly drew her machine gun. Her eyes flicked to Sherry, who was flashing signs to her. " _Three, that way. Platform._ "

" _Help me,_ " she motioned back, slowly getting up. Creeping forward, Manuela laid her hand on one of the cabinets, gently pushing on it to test its weight. It would be heavy enough to bar the door if the Lickers got through the other one, but light enough that they would be able to move it relatively easily. She met Sherry's eyes, and motioned for her to assist her in moving it in front of the door. Sherry nodded, holstering her equipment before crouching beside the locker.

Manuela placed her hands on the top of the locker, tilting it slowly towards Sherry, who gripped the bottom of it on the sides, bracing the main mass against her body before lifting it up. Manuela slid her hand underneath as well, allowing Sherry to tilt more weight back away from herself. The two carried it silently over to the door, carefully reversing through the procedure, while being careful not to hit the locker against either the floor or door too quickly.

Yoko watched silently as the women worked at turning her small, rickety lab into a fortress. They moved another one of the lockers against the other door down the hall, blocking the creatures' way to them. Most of the people she'd dealt with over the years had little idea of the horrors she and the others had suffered through in Raccoon City, but here...these people understood it even better than she did. They had not only seen the face of evil, but gone back against it. As she watched, she caught glimpses of the viruses inside them; Sherry's abnormal strength and endurance, Manuela's grace and focus. Both were signs of their enhanced nature. Try as she might, she could still feel a small amount of disgust towards the idea of anyone living with the virus, but she could hardly imagine either of them choosing to be this way. She would have to ask them about it when the situation permitted.

Eventually the two finished their fortifications, inspecting everything once over before sitting down in the middle of the room, weapons at the ready. She watched as the two quickly communicated, seemingly coming to an agreement. Manuela stood up and walked over to Yoko, grabbing a piece of paper and pen. She quickly scratched out a message.

" _Do you mind if we take a look through your work?_ "

" _Go ahead. I can explain anything you might want to ask about,_ " she replied, scrawling it quickly. Manuela nodded thankfully, walking over to one of the cabinets they hadn't moved, opening the drawer slowly. Yoko knelt beside her, grabbing one of the folders. They were going to be there for a while, so it only made sense to start at the beginning.

* * *

"Agents Kennedy and Miller, reporting in."

Leon looked out over the city as he spoke into his headset. The pair had woken up only a little bit ago, and it would be a few minutes until the sun came up. One of the first things he'd woken up to was a looped message from command for him to report in as soon as possible. He'd woken Angela and given her a minute to wake up before sending their response.

"Glad to hear from you." Leon recognized the voice answering them as Ryman, and he could tell immediately that something big was going on. "Agents Hidalgo and Birkin reported in just a little while ago that they have located and secured the target. They're getting currently communicating as much of the data as possible over on another channel, but they should join our communication in a minute or two."

"I'm going to guess the situation's changed," Leon replied flatly.

"You'd be right there. Priorities have changed. We're going after the ranger base. Yoko was able to confirm the fact that they posses a pair of semi-intact Tyrant corpses. We've already contacted the appropriate forces, and due to some leeway from a friend of yours, we've got all the clearance needed to mobilize forces to assault the position."

Leon was stunned at the news, but he realized that time was going to be very quickly of the essence. He turned to Angela, unslinging his rifle. "Angela, we're moving out. Talk us through the plan while we walk."

Angela nodded her understanding, quickly strapping on her body armour and following Leon out of the room. As the two walked through the ruined building, Ryman kept talking.

"Once the forces arrive, we'll be deploying on top of them. It'll be a fast assault, at the same time. A few forces will be deployed early in order to get into position to take the most advantage of the initial confusion. Unfortunately, we can't deploy any sleeping gas, so this is going to be a primarily guns-blazing mission."

"If you're just going to shoot them, why can't we gas them? We can arrest them that way," Angela asked, obvious displeasure on her face.

"Back in Raccoon City, there was a special breed of Licker that were more vicious and intelligent than the others," Leon answered. "Though we don't know what caused it, the scientists think it was caused by exposure to chemicals. If we deploy the wrong kind of gases against the rangers, we'll be potentially exposing nearby infected to them, which makes this place all that much harder to manage. Not to mention that it's never been established whether or not infection by a stronger variety causes more of its type. Within minutes of landing, the fight will draw nearly every infected for some distance around, so we'll probably have a few attacks by Lickers, and worrying about whether a mutated strain bypasses antibodies is the last thing we want to have to worry about."

"Couldn't have put it better myself," Ryman commented. "If anyone lays down their guns, we have orders not to fire on them, so we're not going under a no prisoners mentality."

"That's reassuring," Leon commented neutrally. He wasn't particularly a fan of the idea of going and assaulting the base, but he'd dealt with enough terrorist organizations to know that they often didn't give in easily. It seemed to only be amplified in the case of bioterrorism. He'd seen some fanatics…

"Sorry for our lateness. Agents Hidalgo and Birkin reporting in," Manuela's voice crackled into the line. Leon immediately perked up.

"Manuela, good to hear from you. I hope you didn't have too rough an evening?" Leon joked lightly. He could hear the slight chuckle from Manuela over the line.

"Nothing too bad. We holed up in Yoko's lab while the Lickers were active, so we were fine. You?"

"The hospital was pretty much clear, so we had a calm night. We're headed off towards the factory now."

"Now that everyone's here, we can talk tactics," Ryman interrupted gently. All agents went quiet as he took a deep breath. "Alright, so Leon and Angela are going to have their hands full getting to the Dead Factory. We're going to deploy a team on site after it has been cleared however. We need to be able to get into those labs, and without bringing in digging equipment, it's our only access. Leon and Angela will hold position until the team and an escort arrive, and then help them through the factory."

"Manuela and Sherry will escort Yoko back to the surface, where we'll deploy a pair of helicopters. The first will bring Yoko back to the base, while Manuela and Sherry join the front-lines. If anything goes wrong, we need your skill with B.O.W.'s. Each of you will be temporarily promoted to field officers for the sake of command. Understood?"

"Yes sir. I would like to allow Yoko to speak however," Manuela requested, surprising Leon. There was silence over the line for a moment, and he thought for a moment, Ryman would refuse.

"Permission granted. Put her on," Ryman commanded.

"Do you want us to sign off this channel?" Leon inquired, but Ryman shut him down immediately.

"No, it's alright. Go ahead Yoko."

"Hello Kevin. I heard you got in a bit of trouble for letting me in. I promise this will be worth it. As you know, I provided the evidence about the existence of the Tyrant pair. Now, I have one more favour to ask of you; when you take the base, please, _please_ don't destroy the bodies. We need to study them. The research team should have received my notes by now, and any one of them can tell you the potential value out of this. So please-"

"Yoko," Ryman interrupted calmly, his voice calm. "Dr. Mason already informed me of their value herself, and made a similar request. While I can't guarantee they won't suffer some damage in the skirmish, I can guarantee that unless we receive direct orders from a higher up, no one in this base is going to touch those corpses. But if the call comes, you'll have to deal with them, not me."

The line was silent for a moment before Yoko spoke. "Thank you, Kevin. I'll put the agent back on the phone."

There was a brief noise as the switch occurred. Commander Ryman could be heard breathing in, collecting himself. "Alright agents, continue with your missions. We're counting on you!"

"Yes sir!" Came the unanimous reply. Leon listened for a moment to make sure no more orders would be coming before turning to Angela, a determined look in his eyes.

"You ready?"

Angela smiled, and for a moment, Leon remembered her bravery in the airport. She lifted her pistol, a challenging look in her eye. "I'm always ready. Let's get to the factory."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Leon rushed forward, weaving through the trees as low as he could manage, pistol out. The spare one tapped along his leg in his holster, while the barrel of his sniper rifle periodically bounced off his back. Sliding onto his side, he braced himself against a fallen tree as he saw a break in the tree line ahead of him.

Angela slid into place beside him, clutching her own rifle protectively. Both performed a quick check to make sure they hadn't dropped anything in their hasty approach. Leon switched to a kneeling position before peering over the top of the log.

The compound lay before them, overgrown with vines and a tangle of other undergrowth. He could even see the remains of a few old cars in the midst, their engines strangled with ever advancing vines. Looking carefully, Leon noticed there was hardly a sound, and even less in the way of life. Despite being one of the most verdant areas in the zone, it seemed like there was nothing around.

"There are no birds around," Angela noted tensely. Listening, Leon felt an uneasy feeling set into his bones. They hadn't seen any squirrels or other animal life either, which lead to only one conclusion.

"They've been eaten by something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it. Stay close, and stay alert," Leon commanded, and Angela nodded, falling in behind him as he slid over the top of the log. Circling around, Leon approached one of the vehicles, hoping to use it as cover, just in case anything nasty happened. Nearing the shell, he noted that the stranglehold was even worse than he had initially realized. The vines had grown in between the grooves of the car, and he could see the warping of the metal easily. "Take a look at this."

Angela knelt down beside the car, placing one hand against the metal plating. Squinting, she inspected the plant, but Leon noted that she didn't touch it. "Looks like a particularly nasty B.O.W. me and one of my teams ran into at one point. T-Virus infected plant-life."

Angela trailed off as she stood up, peering around the edge of the car. Her eyes tracked along the ground, following the plant tendrils. "The growth pattern all leads towards the building..I can't see any signs of stalks or other ground fixtures…"

"So basically, it's all one big plant," Leon noted drily. "Great, just what we needed. How are we supposed to clear this out?"

"It's all connected. We just need to kill the root. Our support team managed to figure out an easily concocted herbicide. If we could just get our hands on some basic chemicals, we could spray it with that."

"Alright, what would we need?"

"Some vinegar, salt, and dish soap. All could be found in some kind of employee lounge. Mix up some of it, apply it to the roots, and you've got one dead plant."

"Just for the record, how did that mission end?" Leon asked.

"It was all fine up until we used the poison. Then the plant got pissed and we had to run."

"Sounds good. Let's go," Leon replied with a sigh, moving around Angela, carefully placing his steps to avoid as much plant growth as possible. While they couldn't avoid it indefinitely, they could let sleeping plants lie. Even so, he reached up to his left shoulder, drawing the knife. Drawing the large blade, he took a moment to remember its former wielder, Krauser. The large blade was a bit more than he was used to, but training had made it so that wasn't a problem. His eyes settled on the snake emblem and he thought similar design in Manuela's flesh. Thinking of her, Leon gripped the knife tightly, hoping she was safe. A small smile crept onto his features as he remembered that, much like himself, she was probably going to do anything but the safe option.

Gazing up at the building, Leon took a moment to analyze the pattern of the overgrowth, as well as the general design. The plant growth was worse on the lower floors, where it poured out the windows, or even filled the apertures. "Follow me."

Angling his approach, Leon approached one of the corners of the building. The solid wall had made it harder for the plant to grow out of it, and there was more clear space. Even so, a few windows seemed to be fairly clear higher up. Angela backed towards him, making sure to keep their backs clear. "Okay, now what?"

Leon unclipped his grappling hook, aiming the small device at one of the open windows. Depressing the trigger, the head shot forth, arcing through the open window, sticking in the roof. Tugging gently, he felt fairly confident that it would hold. "If I fall, you better catch me."

"Don't expect me to do it hanging by one leg like you did," Angela retorted. Leon chuckled before beginning his ascent, hurrying up the building. The ability to brace against the building helped quite a bit, and cut the time down significantly. Gripping the frame of the window, he pulled himself over, readying his pistol and knife as he rolled in.

Only a dark office greeted him. The desk was a mess, with most of the objects having been thrown to the floor from the blast, and anything else was covered in dust. An old skeleton lay a few feet away, probably a victim who had been standing too close to a window. Satisfied that the room was clear, Leon retrieved the length of rope from his pack before tying it to a stationary grapple. Hooking the barbs carefully around the window frame, he tossed the length down, and watched as Angela skillfully caught it. Keeping a careful watch on the anchor, he could only watch with admiration as she sped up the side of the building. He could tell that she had trained hard for this kind of job. Helping her through, he pulled the rope back, careful to minimize the amount of evident signs of their entrance, just in case. He kept the whole thing coiled in a drawer, just in case they needed to leave the same way.

Leon heard a click behind him and watched as Angela adjusted the grenades on her belt. At first he was confused, but when he saw the red colour of the one she moved to the front. "An incendiary."

"If we get attacked by the plant, I doubt a regular grenade is going to do much against it."

"Fair enough." Copying the tactic, Leon took a moment to practice the motion in case he encountered a bit of a bind. Satisfied, he continued forwards, out of the room. Sweeping left, he looked down the hall, spying nothing but the end of the hall.

A spray of suppressed gunfire caused him to turn around, spotting the Licker that Angela had fired at. Her bullets had sprayed across the creature's brain pan, causing it to reel about wildly. Even so, Leon could see the familiar motion of the creature turning its head, its jaws beginning to open wide. Quickly, Leon rammed into Angela, knocking her aside while turning aside to dodge the tongue that lashed towards them. With focused precision, he swung downwards with his knife, feeling a momentary resistance as his knife pierced through the flesh. Continuing the motion, he rammed the knife all the way down to the floor, pinning its tongue down.

The Licker tried to pull its tongue back, only for the pain to cause it to start thrashing. All of its body tried to pull away, except its head, which was an easy target. Leon took aim with his pistol, unloading a few rounds into its head as he advanced towards it. Hearing the knife begin to give way, he hurried towards the Licker, lifting his foot before slamming it into the weakened skull of the Licker. The creature was unprepared for the assault, and didn't have time to react before his boot crushed through the bone, killing it.

Leon grunted as he pulled his boot out of the creature's head, his heart racing from the adrenaline. Reloading his gun, he turned to check on Angela, only to see the handle of a knife in his face. Angela held out the weapon, her expression somewhere between miffed and reluctantly thankful. Leon nodded his thanks as he took his knife back, cleaning the blade.

"Thanks for saving me."

"No problem. Never fought a Licker before?"

"I've heard of them, but we're usually called in when the infection just starts, so we've never encountered one. Thank God."

"You just have to avoid the tongue," Leon informed, kneeling beside the aforementioned appendage. His final hit had caused it to tear from the base, leaving it limp on the floor. Picking it up, he handled it slowly and carefully as he bent the muscled length. "It's covered in barbs, so if it sticks you, it causes damage coming out as well as going in. Your best best if you get stuck is to cut it off before it has a chance to do that."

"Jesus...I thought the zombies were bad. That thing ate a whole clip of my rifle too."

"Most of the time, unless you have a shotgun, it's better to avoid them. Even then, I wouldn't advise taking one on. Those claws aren't just for show," Leon pointed out. Angela nodded, her expression solemn.

"Anything else we know about them?"

"Not much, aside from their blindness. You can avoid them if you're lucky. We don't tend to leave many in one piece."

"Here, let me hold onto that tongue. If this place goes down after we agitate the plant, we'll have something to look at."

Leon shrugged and handed her the tongue. Angela thanked him before carefully wrapping the appendage in a loop, making sure to move slowly with the grain to avoid spearing herself. Once she had tightened it enough, she slipped it into a containment bag before placing it in her bag. "Let's get going."

Leon nodded, proceeding down the hall. The flashlight on the tip of his gun helped as they continued deeper in, and the plant wall began to filter out the light. Angela's own helmet headlight was a bit brighter than his, and so she was usually the first in when they tried various doors. Most were overgrown, and pointless beside, but it didn't stop them from trying some of the more promising ones.

"Hold up," Angela whispered, squinting down the the left of an intersection they had encountered. Leon covered Angela's back as she approached a door, rubbing away some of the dust and vines over its face. Focusing her light on it, Leon could make out the faded words "Janitorial Closet." Leon tried the handle, only to find it firmly locked.

"Great...locked. Umbrella loves their keys. Now we're going to have to hunt through an eight year old facility for an old set of-"

BANG!

Leon's complaint was cut off as Angela's heavy boot found the door's frame, knocking the door open, before the hinges gave out and caused it to fall to the ground. As the dust filtered up from the impact, Angela turned to him with a confident smile. "They never teach you to breach a door?"

Leon was about to quip back when he heard the unmistakable sound of groaning from down the halls. Angela heard it as well, her expression growing serious. "I'll guard the door. You find the chemicals."

"Understood," Angela responded, slinging her rifle so both hands were free. Leon turned his back to her, watching both angles carefully. Putting his knife back in its sheath, he drew his second pistol. Depending on how many zombies there were, reloading could cost him valuable seconds. Listening carefully, Leon turned to the left, spotting the first oncoming zombie.

The creature barely had any time to see him before his bullet pierced its skull, killing it. The next one came around the bend and met with a similar fate, but as a pair came around the corner, he could hear the other side drawing near. Had the corridor been lit, he would have had no problem, but since he required his guns in order to see, he was going to encounter some problems.

Aiming both his pistols, he fired at the zombies, nailing one in the head, but the other one took it across the chest, stumbling it but not killing it. Firing again, he quickly flicked one pistol to look behind him. The first zombie had arrived from that side, and he turned to fire with his dominant hand. Mentally, he tracked the number of bullets he'd let off. Snapping into the present, he killed a couple of zombies to his right before turning back to the left, ready to face the rest of the zombies coming. His eyes widened as his light fell on the end of the corridor.

Turning in reaction to the light on its skin, a Licker let go of the zombie it had pounced, tongue uncurling from the body. Leon felt his breath halt as he tried to control his breathing. He was suddenly aware of just how loud his mask made his breathing, and the sound of Angela rummaging for chemicals didn't help. The Licker knew he was there, but didn't have a full bead on him. That meant he could-

Leon was surprised when he heard a croak behind him. He turned just in time to see a large, amphibian like creature lunging at him, and his shock caused his feet to slide out from under him, allowing him to duck as its wide mouth flew passed where his head had been. The noise startled the Licker, and he rolled away as the tongue impacted only a few inches away from where he had been prone. The tongue retracted, lashing the frog creature across the side in the process, causing it to turn in anger, giving a low, ribbiting growl at the Licker.

The Licker lowered its stance like a cat, hissing back viciously. Leon watched the two threaten each other for a moment before glancing over his shoulder, spotting more zombies coming. Apparently the frog thing hadn't taken them all out. Mentally cursing, he aimed his pistols at the zombies, firing at the leading ones. His shots were accurate, but fast, and more and more of his shots hit in places other than the head. He nearly shouted in joy when a lucky shot caused one to stumble back, briefly stunning the shuffling crowd.

Reaching to his belt, Leon could hear the sound of a conflict behind him, but made sure to visually confirm the landing of the grenade before turning back to the two advanced forms. The creatures appeared to be locked in lethal combat, with claws flailing everywhere. Leon wasn't about to get involved in that catfight. Once a winner was decided, he could pick off the survivor, assuming they weren't already headed out by then.

"Got everything." Leon thanked his lucky stars, turning to Angela, who was stuffing the last components into the pack, before grabbing her rifle. "Let's get out of here."

"This way." Leon moved away from the tussle, firing a few more shots into the last stragglers. He had more than enough bullets for them, but aimed his shots carefully, just in case. Angela's own rifle made short work of the rest, as a precise spray about the head level felled the stragglers. Leon didn't wait for anything as the pair ran around the corner, putting distance between them and the creatures. Spotting a stairwell, Leon tried the door, breathing a sigh of relief as he stepped in, shutting the door as soon as Angela had slipped in.

"What...was...that thing?" Angela asked in between breaths. "I haven't seen one of those."

Leon frowned silently. The creature seemed familiar, and the more he thought about it, it looked a bit like a Hunter. The Hunter he had encountered had all been reptilian though, with long claws that he had seen many zombies decapitated with. None of them had tried to bite him either. He wracked his memory for any information he could, a faint memory coming to him.

He remembered the report he had read before arriving about the accounts of all survivors that had escaped the city. Both Jill and the other survivors had encountered a different type of Hunter; one that boasted amphibian like qualities. Reportedly, the creatures had tried to swallow them whole.

"It's some variety of Hunter. I haven't fought this type myself, but I'd rather not in the first place. Just stay clear of its mouth, it might try to swallow you."

Angela's face visibly paled as she turned in surprise to look at Leon, whose own expression was dead serious. Finally, she shook her head with a disbelieving look, processing the information. "Well, I don't particularly feel like being frog food. If we find more, what do we do?"

"Hunters are tough, not invincible. Aim for the head, like anything else. These ones don't seem to have scales, so they might be easier. Might," Leon stressed. "Do you need to mix the chemicals?"

"Might as well while we have a spare moment. You don't mind keeping guard while I handle it?"

"Go right ahead. I'm going to check in with the others, see what's happening." Angela nodded in acknowledgement, already hard at work removing the chemicals from her pack. Leon watched for a moment before turning away, taking a breath.

"This is Agent Kennedy. What is the status right now?"

* * *

Manuela ducked down behind the cement ridge, the return fire hitting the rock in front of her. Cursing, she looked around at the chaos unfolding around her.

Men and women in urban combat fatigues and hazard gear fanned out to either side, alternating fire. Already, they'd suffered a couple of injuries. The initial assault had been easy, and the rangers had been caught unaware. They'd managed to push passed the guards into their main base, but that's where they'd gotten bogged down.

"Smoke out!" Manuela's head whipped about as she saw Sherry lob a canister over the rock, followed by a few others, tapping across the ground. Instantly picking up on the blonde's plan, Manuela waited a moment feeling time seem to slow down once more. She heard the hiss of the smoke and popped up and over the cover, her machine gun springing to aim.

In her peripheral, she could see Sherry's powerful form, rushing forward with her shield raised high. Behind her, the squad moved closely, their gun blazing into the smoke, hoping to prevent return fire. Manuela focused her attention on the battlefield in front of her. Even with the haze, her eyes could discern the motions of the rangers and she fired with deadly accuracy, preventing them from hurting anyone on her team. To her surprise, she heard the sound of guns hitting the floor, and she saw several of the men and women of the other side fleeing from the line. Manuela raised her hand.

"Don't shoot the unarmed!" she commanded loudly, her voice booming across the battlefield. By then, Sherry's team had crossed the gap, and was cleaning up any straggling fighters. When the last of the armed combatants fell and the smoke cleared, all that was left were a bunch of unarmed, scruffy, sick looking individuals.

Manuela walked over to her partner, and she felt all the eyes fall on them. Their uniforms, along with their gear, clearly marked them as different from the rest. She glanced at her teammate, seeing her own reflection in the faceplate. A tall, imposing figure of a woman greeted her own eyes, and the gas mask didn't help much. Manuela sighed as she turned back towards the cowering survivors.

"Alright. Bravo team, get them back to one of the choppers and then get them medical assistance. It looks like they've suffered some radiation sickness," Manuela commanded, and the soldiers moved to follow her orders. Sherry motioned for one of the men to stop, and she turned to the survivor he was escorting.

"Is this everyone?" she asked, her voice kept comforting, yet with an edge that promised retribution should they lie. The man shook his head.

"No. Right after the first shots were fired, David went into the back room."

"What's in the back room?"

"Guns, ammo, everything we need to survive. It's also where we were keeping all the tech in order to bribe that scientist."

"So you mean the Tyrant bodies are back there?" Sherry asked, her voice and expression growing dire.

"Yes, why-"

"Get these men out of here now!" Sherry commanded, startling everyone. "I want these men handcuffed and a minimal team taken to escort them. Everyone else, with me and Agent Hidalgo. We may be about to deal with a Tyrant. Weapons topped, grenades at the ready. Understood?"

A chant of "yes sirs" rose to her call, followed by the sound of handcuffs. In only a few moments, the survivors had been subdued and a small team sent to escort them. The rest of the team were topping up their weapons with purpose, but Sherry could see the looks of fear on their faces.

"Let's move," Sherry commanded, heading towards the back, where the man had indicated. Manuela swiftly moved up beside her, reloading her machine gun. A resolute look passed between them.

"If he's infected, he'll likely become a Tyrant. Most have a glaringly obvious weak point. Concentrate your fire on it, and remember that they can move faster than you think."

The team reached a door, and Sherry was unsurprised to find it locked. Not wasting time, she unslung her portable battering ram, motioning for some of the men to help her. Together, they braced the machine, activating it. The head sprung forward, impacting the door with brutal force. The metal crinkled out of the way at first, before bursting off the hinges and falling aside. Sherry wasted no time tossing the device aside to retrieve her own weapons as she rushed inside.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Angela coughed as the ringing subsided. She felt a dull pain throughout her body as she propped herself up on an elbow, thankful for the padding of her uniform. Dust filtered around her as she squinted, trying to focus her eyes. As she sat up, rubble shifted off her back, and she tried to regain her bearings. Feeling around, her hand clutched onto her assault rifle, while her other hand found the headlight. As the light flicked on, she looked about into the darkness.

Foliage covered every inch of the walls, forming a dark mass. Around her feet, segments of old floor had broken some of the vines, though the remaining was probably what had saved her. Looking upwards, she could see the broken stairwell above her, and as her ears focused, she could start to hear Leon's voice in her headset.

"Leon..?" she replied with a groan, stretching her back. Briefly, she checked herself over for wounds, finding that her suit had protected her from most of the impact. She inspected her faceplate as Leon spoke.

"Thank God you're alright," Leon sighed. "Any injuries?"

"None that I can see. Everything's intact. Lots of overgrowth down here, helped soften the impact."

"Alright. You think you can manage to climb a rope up here?"

"Probably. Just let me-"

Angela was cut off as the mass of vines beneath her began to shift, knocking her off her feet. Thinking quickly, she drew her knife, striking just as one of the vines tried to grab her. Surprised at the sudden increase in speed, she batted away another one with her rifle, knowing that firing wouldn't do much beyond piss it off. A vine shot towards her head and she twisted to avoid it, only to trip over another vine. Rolling with it, she managed to avoid another grasp, striking at the offending vine.

Ducking an attack, she swung her blade in a large arc, severing several vines along the floor to secure a foot space. As the vines shied away from her blade, she gained the ability to stand without fear of the floor attempting to betray her. Bringing the blade up, she stared down several vines that hung in the air like vipers, seemingly waiting to strike. It was only when she saw the darkness she was in that she realized she'd been tricked.

Glancing over, she saw the hole she'd fallen through had been sealed with foliage, and was growing more dense by the moment. She highly doubted that either her or Leon would be able to dig through it without significant firepower, or risk to themselves.

"It's sealed me in," Angela announced calmly, focusing most of her attention on the vines ahead of her. Slowly, she put her rifle on her back, realizing that holding it was just throwing off her turning speed. The vines made no move to attack her, and she swapped the blade over to her dominant hand, wringing her grip on the blade impatiently. The moment dragged on as she kept the tendrils within her field of view. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, they retreated back into the walls.

Angela kept her blade out for a moment, expecting an attack, but as the moments dragged on, she relaxed a little, though she kept the blade in hand. "Leon, can you read me?"

"Yeah. What happened? I saw the passage seal up. Are you alright?" The concern was evident in Leon's voice as he talked, even though his voice was quiet, no doubt trying to avoid detection.

"I'm fine. I'm going to try to either find a way up to your level or to the roots. If I can get to the base, I'm going to take it out. I'll radio you if that happens," Angela informed.

"You do realize that you'll be stuck with no way out, right?" Leon asked, and she knew from his tone of voice that he could tell what she was thinking.

"Of course. Wouldn't have it any other way," she retorted sarcastically, silencing her headset before Leon could get another word in edgewise. It wasn't the best move to go dark, but she would be relying on her hearing a lot and she doubted she'd have time to send a message if things went wrong anyway.

Creeping forward, Angela tested the covered section of the floor, expecting it to lurch up at her. Instead, the vines shifted as if reacting to her boot, but stayed mostly in place. Angela sighed in relief, but forced herself to keep walking forwards. Even through her suit, she could feel the heat and moisture of the passage, likely caused by the plant.

It was when she heard moaning that Angela realized that she wouldn't be able to solely use her knife. Slowly, still aware of the presence of the massive organism around her, she grabbed her rifle, but kept her knife on hand, adjusting her grip to hold both. She almost wished she had a bayonet or something on her gun, but she doubted she'd be skilled enough to use it.

Following the curve of the passage, she could see the zombies inside. The tattered remains of hiker outfits told her all she needed to know about how the plant had been getting its share of food. The infected had not yet noticed her, and she took the opportunity to line up her shots. She killed a pair in quick succession with well placed headshots, and the third reacted to slowly as she lead her shot to hit its head as well. Having cleared the corridor, she reached down to top up her weapon.

That was when the plant struck. Her gaze was lowering to accompany the motion, and her off hand was briefly occupied as she reached for the clip. Out of her peripheral, she had seen the tendril shoot towards her, and she managed to roll in time to avoid it. Aiming her gun, she saw that it had already faded back into the mass. Patiently, she waited, expecting it to strike again, but only silence and the slight straining of plant fibers greeted her.

Carefully, she topped up her weapon, performing the action by touch rather than sight. She was surprised when she clicked the weapon full, having never been interrupted during the whole process. She struggled to figure out how the thing intended to kill her. An image of a venus fly trap flashed through her mind and she thought about the sensitive feelers in its mouth. Her eyes strained in the darkness, and yet she still couldn't see anything.

Thinking more intently, both attacks had shortly followed heavy action. The roof caving in would definitely attract attention, while the gun fire had likely caused the second. With the undead wandering the tunnels, she doubted the plant would notice a slow motion through the mass, having grown used to the stimulus. She doubted the plant was intelligent enough to track her motions, but detecting unusual motions was another thing.

 _If I creep through and avoid firing my weapon or anything else that would set it off, I might be able to avoid detection. I can probably sneak passed any regular zombies, but if I run into a Licker or a Hunter, I'll be screwed_ , Angela thought to herself, gritting her teeth. Either way, there was nothing she could do but press on.

Moving slowly, she tried to control her breathing, even if she doubted the plant could sense that. She didn't want to risk anything. Straining her ears, she listened to the darkness, hoping to avoid anything that might be out there. Pausing briefly, she flicked on her headset, just in case anything new was being broadcast. When silence greeted her, she flicked it back off.

Approaching a split, she briefly turned off her headlight, not wanting to alert anything. In the pitch black, she could hear something moving ahead of her. The sound was different than the infected she had heard, and as soon heard a creepy, almost hiss-like noise come from it. _A Licker!_

She briefly debated going the other way, but the stalks seemed to grow thicker towards where the creature was. There was the chance the other direction also lead closer to the core, but this was guaranteed to bring her closer to the main stalk. A flash of realization hit her as she remembered a key detail Leon had mentioned. The creature was blind; she could sneak passed it. There was only one problem; she was equally blind.

Slowly, she drew in a breath, aware that even the slightest sound might set it off. Even if it thought she was just a zombie, she had seen these creatures fight each other before. Stepping slowly, she tried to figure out where the creature was. The sound seemed to come from somewhere ahead of her, at about her head level. She realized with horror that the thing was crawling along the roof, and that the passage was too small for her to go around it. She would have to duck under the thing.

Being close to prone would be risky. Not only would it slow her down, but it left her back exposed if the thing realized she was there. It also brought her closer to the floor, and if her guess about how the plant sensed its prey was incorrect, it would give her less time to react. Her gun would also be slower to aim from a lower position, especially if the enemy was above her.

Focusing internally, she tried to block out as much fear as possible, slowly moving towards the creature. Moving by sound and the vague impression of touch from her feet, she pushed forward. As he listened, she could tell the creature was almost on top of her and ducked down, just in case. She decided to let it pass over her, rather than risk crawling under it. Listening, she could hear it begin to move above her, and she counted mentally how long it would be until it would be passed her. It would only be a moment.

But that moment never came. Instead, it seemed to pause above her, causing her heart to beat faster. Suppressing the urge to curse, she kept control of her breathing, listening to the creature above her. She could hear its mouth open in a slimy, cracking sound, and felt a small amount of saliva trickle down onto her back. She kept back the wave of disgust while tensing to avoid shivering, focusing further inwards in her mind.

When she heard it sniffing, she realized the situation she was in. She didn't smell like something from the plant. It would only be a matter of seconds before the Licker realized she was underneath it. Acting quickly, she decided to strike first, flipping her knife and hoping to hit something important. The knife drove upwards, and she could tell it was something important from the horrific screech the creature produced. She almost immediately regretted the choice when the creature fell on top of her after letting go of the ceiling. Her held breath was immediately released as the hilt of her knife was forced into her chest and the entire mass of it landed on top of her, stunning her.

Angela tried to focus her thoughts despite the pain, and she realized she was going to die. She felt the knife torn from her weak grip as the Licker rolled over and despite her best attempts, she couldn't move, let alone breathe. Her eyes flailed about wildly in their sockets on instinct, trying to look for some way, anyway, to survive. The feeling of darkness before her was almost so overwhelming that it hurt. The sting of adrenaline tinged her nerves as she tried to think.

Right next to her ear, she could hear the hissing of the monster as it struggled with the attack. A claw slashed near her head in its wild fury and she knew it would only be a matter of time before it found her. Bracing for death, she held her eyes closed, even though she couldn't see anything anyway.

The sound of plants moving startled her, especially when she found herself shoved aside by a rising wave of vines. Reflexively, she reached a hand up shakily to flick her light on and was surprised by what she saw.

Vines had encased the Licker, wrapping around its limbs and head, preventing it from moving. It was still obviously alive, as its tongue lashed around in anger, but even that began to subside as an obvious straining was put on its body. Angela was unprepared when she heard a crack, and watched as the constriction broke the bones in its ribcage. In an instant, the entire Licker was pulverized, turned into a fleshy bag that was swallowed by the plants. Soon, the only mark left of its existence was the slight mass under the plants, and her bloody knife, sticking out of the bump.

Angela lay down, stunned at her luck. She had been inches, and her own mistake had saved her. Her hunch had been correct; laying still had prevented the plant from sensing her. Instead, the enraged Licker had suffered its wrath. It took her another moment to realize that she could move again, and she shakily stood up, walking over to the mass. Nervously, she reached down and retrieved her knife, expecting the plant to object, though it didn't move. After a brief moment of searching, she found her rifle, luckily untouched from the scuffle.

Taking a moment to get her bearings, she took a deep breath. "Okay. You got lucky once. Keep moving. Don't let the shock get to you."

Angela mentally pushed herself along, continuing to give verbal instructions to herself. As she crept along the tunnel, an image of her brother flashed through her brain, and she remembered all the advice he had given. Sometimes, it had felt like lecturing, but he had always looked out for her. He had helped her become the woman she was today.

Quickly, she realized her shaking, and knew that she was about to have a momentary bout of shock. They'd always talked about it in training, how it could come at any time, but often triggered in response to near death. Even now, she could feel the well of repressed emotions surging forth, and she braced herself, even as her rational mind fled.

Suddenly, she was aware of the darkness all around her, and the distant sounds of infected. The slime dribbling down her back suddenly seemed much worse, and she began shaking, until she couldn't handle it anymore, reaching back to scrub it off. A visceral sense of sickness rose in her, and she forced herself to hold it back. Even if she didn't have a helmet on, it would only let the plant know where she was. Her knees began to weaken and tried her best to lower herself to the floor, terrified that any motion might set the plant on her. As her rear touched the floor she couldn't hold back the gasp of relief that she had made it down safely. Even that small victory seemed like a monumental accomplishment to her mind.

Grasping her knees with her hands, she gripped tightly, hoping to force some of the anxiety out. Her breath was shallow, and she hoped to whatever God had spared her that she wasn't saved only to die immediately afterwards. Her blood pounded in her ears and she resisted the urge to fall over and sleep, knowing it would mean her end.

 _Why is this happening now?_ Angela cursed repeatedly in her brain. She thought she'd been fine after the Incident. She'd lead so many missions before, but the threat before was greater than anything she'd faced, even worse than her own brother. A brief thought flashed through her mind, wondering if she'd perhaps moved on too fast without realization of the imprint it had left on her. No doubt, after it was all over, she would have to seek some help.

Just the idea that she could live through to get the help was enough to help bring her mind back. Her breathing came easier and she soon found herself able to stand up. Gripping her rifle tightly, she forced herself to take a step forward, knowing that it would be best to keep pushing on. _It can't be too far_ , she thought to herself, hoping it was as true as she prayed.

* * *

"David King! Put your hands up and surrender!" Sherry shouted as the men flanked out to either side, readying their weapons.

David himself stood in front of them, his back to them. From what Sherry could see, the years had taken a toll on his appearance. She could see the full on beard he sported around the edges, and his hair had a wild look that spoke of his care of his own appearance. His clothes were ripped and messy, not to mention caked in dirt and dried blood.

What he lacked in appearance, he more than gained in physique. The old pictures had made him seem almost laid back, and a tad thin. Now, his muscles were very evident, and he didn't seem to suffer any form of malnutrition. Sherry's eyes naturally traced to his hands, which were clenched tightly.

"What makes you think I'll do that?" He asked aloud, not turning towards them. A certain detachment was carried in his voice, and Sherry held back the irritation she felt.

"If you don't we will fire. Come with us quietly, and you won't have to die."

"And if I do, then I'll be incarcerated for life, correct? I think that's not an option I'd like to take. Besides, I don't think any of you will be able to bring me in," he threatened, turning slowly. Sherry's eyes widened as she beheld him.

David's eyes had a maddened look in them, wide and bulging. The veins seemed to pulse disturbingly, turning dark. His jaw was set in a cruel grin, blood staining his teeth and face. The veins on his neck seemed to pop out as he strained. Sherry's eyes flicked to the table, where she saw the corpse of Nyx, bite marks taken out of its decrepit form.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Open fire!"

Manuela and Sherry were the first to open fire. The combination of the magnum and machine gun fire made David's body jerk horrifically, alternating between shudders from the automatic fire and larger spasms from the larger caliber weapon. The command to fire was more of an announcement of intention by the time the soldiers had reacted.

David's body fell backwards, before crashing against the table and sliding down the steps lifelessly.

"Alpha, grab the bodies and get them out of here. Bravo, with me," Sherry commanded. Manuela nodded, moving to join with Bravo team as they circled around the dais-like structure towards the Tyrant R's corpse. Sherry mechanically reloaded her weapon as she approached, allowing one of the other soldiers to take point as they approached David's body. "Keep your weapons ready."

As she drew closer, Sherry could see the extent of the damage they had done. The entire side of his face was destroyed from a well-placed magnum shot. The sight was repulsive, and she realized that in any other situation she would have aimed for some other place. Even the brief time they'd spent in the zone had made her twitch reaction to aim for the head.

Flipping his body over, Sherry could see that despite his healthy appearance, he had definite signs of weakness from his time in the zone. The bullets had been able to easily fracture his bones, probably due to a calcium deficiency. His blood flowed rapidly out of him, making him almost seem to shrink in on himself.

Sherry realized almost a moment too late that it was at a rate that was unnatural. David's head jerked up with a choking breath, coughing discoloured blood. As she stumbled back, he tried to roll over, clawing at the ground. As he began writhing, Sherry realized what was happening.

"Get the body away from him!" She ordered, grabbing the cylinder strapped to her hip. Flicking it, her telescopic stun baton extended to its full length and she knelt down on his chest before driving it down into the open wound on his face. She ignored the unholy sound that came from his destroyed vocal cords, and held back a wave of nausea as the flesh seemed to melt around the tip. Between her legs, she could feel his body begin to exhibit the same deformation.

Sherry glanced over her shoulder, seeing Alpha team working the best they could to move the body. It took them only a moment to balance it between them, and the leftovers fanned out around her, readying their weapons. Near the entrance, she could see Manuela rushing back into the room, instantly sizing up the situation.

David gave a strong shudder underneath her, causing her to refocus on him. She twisted the baton and pressed harder, causing a section of his skull to cave inwards, but it seemed to have almost no effect on him. Instead, the wound began to bubble, new flesh beginning to build up on the existing segments. As the rest of him began to bubble, Sherry realized she couldn't suppress him anymore.

Pulling out the baton, she restrapped it on her hip as she quickly stepped back, just as David attempted to claw the space she had been in. His arm became whiplike, accelerating at different rates. His elbow hit the ground well before his hand did, while his forearm seemed to stretch until it hit the ground with a splatter, sections of skin sloughing off before pooling back into the main mass. His fingers were the only solidified segment of the arm, forming claws that left marks on the tile.

"You...can't...defeat me!" David's voice rose from the malformed mass where his head had been. With each word, it seemed as if he was having to cough up a section of his own body, causing the words to come out with burbles and odd pauses. He began to rise up, but his head still hung loosely, shadowed by his bloating form.

"Aim for the head!" Sherry commanded, ignoring his ravings. Alpha team obliged, but David raised his arm rapidly, twisting it on itself into a fleshy shield. Between the bullets impacting the surface and the rapidly melting flesh any former traces of the form of his arm were gone, leaving only a broad, melting, shield-like appendage in front of his body.

Sherry was caught by surprise as a massive appendage shot out from over the shield, arcing towards her. She could only watch in horror as it reached for her, talon-like protrusions primed to impale her. Suddenly, a flash of fire blocked it from view and David let out a horrible screech, shaking the appendage to try and put out the flames, giving Sherry time to retreat. She turned and saw Manuela, hand outstretched. Manuela could see the self-inflicted cut on her hand, and knew what had happened.

"You gotta be faster that that," Manuela commented with a slight smile before taking a stutter step forward and tossing an arc of blood at David, catching the shield with it. Sherry knew what came next. Manuela barely even had to think about it before the blood exploded, causing the lower portion of the shield to fall off, pooling at David's feet.

Alpha team didn't need to be told what to do next. They fired at David's now exposed trunk-like legs. While the bullets didn't do much damage, it did cause him to lose balance, falling forward, leaning on his shield for support. With so much stimulus, he was temporarily stunned, and Sherry watched as one of Alpha team tossed a grenade at David.

The canister landed on his back, quickly being absorbed in the reforming layers. A moment later, it exploded, sending bits of flesh flying off, charred and useless. Sherry's eyes widened as she saw that the flesh that Manuela had seared now lay at David's feet, unabsorbed in the process.

"Burn him! He can't regenerate if you burn him! Manuela, cover me."

Manuela glanced at her companion in confusion but her eyes widened as she saw Sherry go for her straps. A brief moment of indecision flashed across her face, but she decided to listen to her friend. "You better know what you're doing."

Sherry hurriedly began undoing her straps. Though they were tedious to put on, it was much easier to release them. Shrugging off her harness, Sherry appraised the situation.

Alpha were firing on the rapidly mutating Tyrant. In the few moments it taken her to strip off her harness he'd grown another one of the spear like appendages. The pair now flailed about menacingly, though his shield was taking longer to regenerate. It seemed the burnt flesh was impairing its ability to regenerate the limb.

"We've brought support!" Sherry turned to see Bravo team rejoining them, and she was relieved to see that they were coming with flamethrowers. She doubted they had formally trained with using them in a combat role though.

"Hand me one," Sherry commanded, meeting the closest one. The man nodded, handing it to her before moving to assist in its application. "The rest of you help Alpha!"

Another burst of flame lit up the room as Manuela burnt the Tyrant. With a flail, it lashed its pair of tentacles around, managing to spear one of the approaching Bravo team. Everyone ducked in cover as the tentacles split, becoming a bladed nightmare.

The mass wasn't infinite though, and the Tyrant had to focus on one group or another, lashing at the box covers they hid behind. That left the other side open. Manuela already seemed to have picked up on the fact, as Sherry saw her moving quickly between the boxes, avoiding the Tyrant's sightline. Just as it got in range to bear down on one of the entrenched positions, Manuela stood up, throwing several arcs of blood in rapid succession, crisscrossing the creature's back with red streaks. The explosions caused it to shudder forward, the tentacles retracting in order to try and heal with the cannibalized material.

"All set!" As soon as Sherry heard the confirmation and the last strap being placed, she rushed forward, ready to take advantage of the weakened Tyrant. Calling on her reserves of strength, she hefted the flamethrower in her right hand while holding the shield in her off hand. Even after shrugging off her harness and going all out, she doubted she'd be able to aim well with her off hand.

She gritted her teeth and raised her shield as the Tyrant cannibalized its legs, turning them into more tentacles. The appendages lashed towards her, but the combat shield was able to deflect the half formed limbs. She leaned into the attack, minimizing her size while allowing her to push ahead.

Through the window of her shield, she could see the Tyrant. Almost all of David's form had been consumed, with only a fragment of his face left. The one remaining eye glared down at her through the melting flesh, pure hatred emanating from it.

An arc of fire consumed her field of view, and the tendrils were severed from their bindings, falling uselessly to the floor. Sherry glanced over to see Manuela, teetering tiredly, a couple of Bravo team supporting her. "He's weakened. Get him!"

Sherry didn't need to be told twice. With no more resistance, she was able reach the Tyrant much easier. Careful not to drop her shield, she lifted the nozzle of the flamethrower, practically jamming it up into its face. She grunted under the weight as it seemed to realize that the only thing it could do was crush her. Bracing her whole body, she tensed, pulling the trigger.

The heat and intensity of the light forced her to look away, and she could only hope that she wasn't going to kill herself in the process. The Tyrant gave out a horrible screech that vibrated through the shield, causing her entire body to go cold. The sound resonated through her bones, and she could feel her vision begin to go double behind her closed lids. The hissing of searing flesh filled her ears, and soon began to drown out everything else, even the sound of the Tyrant's shrieking. Heat poured around her, causing her to start to weaken. Even as she began to slide into unconsciousness, she never let go of the trigger.

* * *

Manuela watched in horror as the Tyrant's form melted around Sherry. Through the rivulets of flesh, she could see some of the flames falling on Sherry's back, even if the blond didn't notice. The only relief was the fact that the Tyrant was well and truly dead.

"Go help her!" Manuela ordered, trying her best to sound imposing and commanding despite how tired she was feeling. She noticed the paramedics coming in, and she allowed them to tend to her wounds, but refused to let them carry her off. She watched the soldiers gather around the pod that had been formed by the flesh.

One of the men motioned for the portable ram, and it was quickly brought to him. Together, the team held the device, careful not to be so close as to risk hurting Sherry. Manuela's head pulsed with pain as the ram struck home, shattering the shell. Straining her eyes, she could see the team drag Sherry's unconscious form out of the whole, stripping off the equipment so the medics could get at her wounds. Once she saw that Sherry was safe, she allowed the medics to move her onto the stretcher.

They moved to get her back to the helicopter hastily, and she could feel rest calling her name. She could just close her eyes, and she'd wake up back at the HQ. Tilting her head, she could see Sherry's own stretched being brought beside hers. Her companion was barely conscious. Through the fog in her head, she could hear Sherry groaning.

Manuela's mind worked, trying to dredge up a thought, or memory. Thinking hard, she realized what was happening. Her body was trying to heal itself. Focusing, she reached out for Sherry's arm, her fingers weakly wrapping around a section of undamaged skin.

"Sherry," she called tiredly. _I went way too hard. It's hard to focus._ "Sherry, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," Sherry affirmed with a hiss of pain, holding her eyes closed.

"You have to focus Sherry. You remember why?" Manuela's tone was calm as she spoke. Both of them knew why, but she had to keep Sherry's mind working.

"As long as I agh! Focus...I should be able to keep the mutations back."

"Good. Just keep focusing. Listen to me, okay?" Sherry nodded, gripping Manuela's hand tightly. Very tightly. She was sure it was going to cause bruising, but it was worth it.

Manuela could feel a deep pain in her heart at seeing Sherry in such a state. In the three or so years they had known each other, Manuela had always been confident in Sherry's abilities. She was stronger, healthier, and a better leader.

But now, seeing her so injured, struggling with the same thing that gave her power, filled her with a deep sadness. Almost instinctively, she pushed herself up, pulling the younger girl closer. Carefully, she wrapped her arms around Sherry, making sure not to touch or agitate her burns. She felt Sherry curl against her, shaking from the adrenaline racing through her system.

Manuela took a deep breath and she gently titled Sherry's head down towards her chest, blocking out the onslaught of stimulus from the cruel daylight. As she breathed out, she remembered how her mother had held her the same way, and a thought came to her. Taking another deep breath, she could feel her own weakness subsiding as determination rose to replace it.

" _Sleep my love as the trees above protect you from the dark._ "

The lyrics rushed back to her mind, exiting her lips as soon as they had flashed by. Her voice was low and quiet, but resonated within her chests, and as she saw Sherry relax, she knew it helped block out some of the sound of the helicopter. One of Sherry's hands found her uniform, gripping the fabric possessively.

Manuela was about to launch into the next verse when she heard Sherry's own voice rise up to meet hers. She almost stopped, but managed to catch herself and keep singing, holding Sherry close. Tiredly, she closed her eyes, focusing all her energy on continuing the song, hoping she could last until Sherry's body had finished with its work.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Angela pressed on into the darkness. The moment of weakness had passed her, and she felt a resolute sense of determination replace it. She had swapped her rifle out for her handgun, wielding it in her dominant hand.

Even though the thickened vines had suggested she was nearing the center of the mass, she had been walking for some time. It had been slow going at first, but as she kept walking, it seemed the plant had relaxed some. It no longer twitched away from her feet when she walked, and she swore it was smoother than before, as if it were blatantly allowing her ease of passage.

The sound of moaning interrupted her thoughts, and she listened carefully. It was just up ahead, and she had a good bead on it. From what she could tell, it was a lone zombie. She decided against using her headlight, opting instead for her gun mounted one.

The concentrated beam revealed the zombie, and Angela wasn't surprised to see another hiker. Idly, she wondered how many lost hiker cases would be solved by this place. She barely took a moment to aim and fire, the bullet going clean through its head.

Angela was prepared this time, ready to dodge out of the way when the vines came after her. Nervously, she held her knife at the ready, but nothing seemed to happen. She continued to stare off into the darkness, expecting the attack.

Angela reactively jumped when she felt the vines beneath her shift. She followed the pulse with her light, and watched in surprise as it sped right by her. The pulse reached the zombie's body before bursting forth, covering it in vines. In a matter of moments, the body was hidden from view, and only the sounds of the body being mulched escaped from the raised area.

Cautiously, Angela edged around the area, knife held outright. She kept her light focused on the spot, just in case. As she approached, the bulge seemed to expand, and she briefly wondered if it was going to attack before it suddenly constricted. She could hear bones snapping, and one of them even poked out of the mass for a moment, a decayed and disgusting yellow-green. The sound of crunching bones and liquefying organs disturbed her, but it seemed the plant was more than content to munch its meal.

Once she had gotten a fair distance away from it, Angela allowed herself to relax a little. Flicking back off the light, she found herself in complete darkness, but somehow it seemed easier that way. It was becoming easier for her to navigate by the feel of the ground below her. She had no doubt it would be near impossible for her to find her way back to where she had started, but at this point that wasn't an option. The only way was to go forward.

What was more pressing on her mind was the change of behaviour of the plant over such a short time. From the moment she had fallen in, it had seemed set on killing her. And yet, despite knowing where she had been from firing her pistol, it had elected to ignore her.

She knew it wasn't because it was the pistol; she'd been using it ever since she remembered she had it. Even that hadn't been enough to get the plant to ignore her. Until now.

The more she thought about it, she noticed the attacks had gotten less and less since killing the Licker. At first, the attacks had been half-hearted, and rarely involved more than a lash in her general direction. In retrospect, it was more like an animal being protective of a kill than an actual attack. Even that had curtailed pretty quickly. Lashes soon became tendrils hovering defensively, but never striking unless she got too close. One time, the corpse had been pretty much dead in the center of the path, and she'd had to skirt dangerously close to the defensive tendrils, and yet they hadn't struck, even as she passed within easy kill range.

The whole thing didn't add up. More and more it was seeming like an intelligent creature, and one that was somehow assisting her. The idea that the plant wanted her to continue onwards was eerie to say the least.

At the same time, every time she had won, it left a new body for the plant to consume, with very little effort on its part. She had managed to survive every attack it had thrown at her so far, and she imagined that gathering the energy to move as quickly as it did when it attacked, which was why it preferred to let the creatures die on their own.

She didn't like the fact that she was beginning to understand its reasoning.

Curiosity burned in her mind, wanting answers to questions she couldn't ask. She decided to try her comms again. "Leon, are you there? Leon, do you read me?"

Angela waited in the darkness, hand on her headset. She was about to switch it off when she heard some static begin to clear. Straining her listening, she tried again. "Leon, do you read me?"

"-gela? Can you...me?"

"Leon! You're a bit fuzzy, but yes, I can hear you!"

"HQ...the mission...David is dead...Status?"

"I'm alright," she replied. In the back of her mind, she tried to imagine how to inform Leon of her theory without sounding crazy.

"Looking for...to you. Found...thrower."

Angela squinted as she focused on his words. For a moment, she tried to piece together what he was trying to say. Her eyes widened as she realized what he was talking about. "Negative! Do not use the flamethrower!"

Immediately, she wished she had tempered her response. It had come out as a desperate plea rather than a command. She knew that Leon wouldn't use it unless he was sure she was safe, so she had no reason to fear immolation.

"Wasn't planning...it. You'd be toast...Hostiles...ahead. Going silent."

Angela didn't bother responding, but she wished she could have warned him about avoiding the plant's attention. He was smart though, and she had no doubts that he would figure it out on his own.

What was more reassuring was the fact that the mission had been completed inside the city. Now it was just up to her and Leon to finish their end of the mission.

A moan caught Angela's attention and she realized that she'd been lost in her thoughts, as well as the conversation with Leon. Flicking on her light, she was surprised by a zombie only a few feet in front of her. It had an unusual red tint to its skin and seemed to be experiencing significant decay. Even so, she could clearly see the powerful muscles beneath its skin.

Angela raised her arms to block its first attack, ready to transition into a backwards roll. She performed the roll, but the attack never came. Her light illuminated the sight of the creature's arms being restrained by vines.

Before she had time to react, they were torn off. Thrown off balance, it toppled forward, falling right into a cradle of vines that immediately surrounded it. Angela watched as all her theories about how the plant operated were crushed, just like the infected itself.

The speed at which the plant acted, as well as its level of awareness suggested something more than periphery or reflexive responses. This seemed more like true sentience. Infected had often displayed some disconcerting behaviours, like repeating phrases related to their lives after death, but never showed any sign of actual intelligence.

The closest they got to intelligence were Tyrants, and even then only one had shown any level of high thought, and that was the unique Nemesis. Something was unique here, and Angela was determined to get to the bottom of it.

She continued a little ways forward, only to find herself walking into a wall, and a metal one at that. Her heart rose in her chest with excitement at the thought of being out of the plant. Turning on her headlight, she found the door handle, and was relieved when it was unlocked. She opened the door, her pistol at the ready.

The room was ancient, but she could still recognize its original purpose. It was a communications center. The banks of old communications technology were overgrown, but she could still see the dials and screens underneath. Some of the stuff looked a bit more modern, but she remembered the fact that Umbrella had often been ahead of the times.

There were other signs of decay though. A few skeletons lay on the floor, and the bite marks seemed to indicate they had been consumed from when the infection broke out. A number of the machines seemed pretty rusted in places, though it had fared well, despite the atmosphere.

Angela holstered her pistol as she began inspecting the consoles, trying to spot one that could reasonably work. Much to her chagrin, the most promising suspect also had overgrowth on top of vital pieces. It wouldn't take much work to get the vines off but…

Approaching slowly, she took in a deep breath as she extended her hand towards the vines. Grabbing hold of one, she hissed as she expected an attack. After a couple of moments, she began to pull on the vine. At first, the vine hardly gave, but when it suddenly began to shift, she let go and stepped back. The tip of the vine dislodged itself from the ceiling, and slithered down along the console until it reached the floor, where it disappeared.

Feeling more confident, Angela tried it again, and the vine obliged much quicker this time. Before she had even moved onto the next one, the rest gave way, revealing the console without prompt. Any doubts she had about its intelligence faded in that moment. It had known what she wanted, and had allowed her access. A little thought in the back of her mind wondered if the plant had guided her to the room too.

She didn't let it sit too long before she leaned over the console, trying the various buttons. Eventually, one of them sparked the thing to life, and she wiped away the grime on the screens. She silently celebrated the fact that the power still seemed to be flowing enough to run the machines.

After fiddling with the screens and buttons for a bit, she figured out how to set the frequency, and modulated it to HQ's. Taking a breath, she pressed the button to begin transmitting. "Hello? HQ? This is Agent Miller. Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Thank Christ," Angela responded, not bothering to hide her relief. "I have a lot to tell you, but can you get me the science team?"

"They're already here," the operator confirmed, and although Angela wondered why they were present, she didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Agent Kennedy and I were split up when I fell into one of the lower levels. The lower stories have been almost completely occupied by a massive plant lifeform. For the past few hours, I've been wandering around inside the mass, and I have reason to believe it's intelligent."

"This is Dr. Mason. Tell me everything you know."

Angela began explaining everything she'd noticed so far. Dr. Mason was quiet, only responding to ensure Angela that the line was still active. Soon, Angela reached her current status, and the plant's seeming cooperation.

"Well, Agent Miller, I'd have to agree with you, as much as I'd prefer not to. Have you found a way into the sub levels yet?"

"Not yet. This is the furthest I've gotten."

"I suspect that if you continue following the roots, you'll find both the root of the plant and the passage to the Dead Factory. Your plan was to poison the plant, right?"

"That's correct. I have the chemicals with me-"

"I wouldn't recommend it. Not only would that likely result in your own death, but considering the overgrowth, it would likely destroy the structures, sinking the entire passage into the ground. If the overgrowth is as bad as you say, then the facility may well be supported only by the plant itself."

Angela paled as she realized she had almost doomed their mission. Even if the two of them had made it out, the building would have sunk in quickly after their escape. With the back door sealed, only the highly irradiated city center would be available.

Dr. Mason continued. "For now, make your way down to the center of the plant. It may be possible for you to find a way into the sub levels without having to exterminate the plant. It moved out of your way when you tried to access the console, so it might be able to be "persuaded" to move out of the way to access the passage. If that's the case, we may not even need to kill it."

Angela bit her lip in thought before shaking her head. "We can't let it stand. It's a giant biohazard."

"A majority of the population is immune to the t-virus now, and anti-t is readily available. The plant itself is well within the borders of the zone, so it's not going to affect anyone," Dr. Mason reasoned. "That being said, it will likely be curtailed heavily."

"Now that the rangers have been killed or disbanded, we can bombard the region to knock out the remaining infected. The payloads will knock the railways in, so they can't escape that way. Once the infected levels are brought down to manageable levels, we can re-establish control over it, and eliminate any remaining sections of infection."

"Without constant attacks from within the zone, we can control the border to prevent things from entering and getting infected. This will starve the plant. A lifeform of that size can't survive on standard plant means for long. While it begins to die, we can study it in safety, getting valuable information on it. I'm just as opposed to leaving it alive, but the things we can learn if we leave it alive for a while greatly outweigh the minimal risks."

The line was silent for a moment as Dr. Mason allowed Angela time to think on her words. Finally, Angela sighed. "Alright, I understand. If it's possible to avoid killing the plant, I will do so."

"I'm glad you understand. If you see Agent Kennedy, please pass the information on. We will try to reach him manually to inform him of this new directive, but barring that, it's important that he knows."

"Understood, anything else?"

"Agents Birkin and Hidalgo have been returned to base. They're both alive, but Agent Birkin suffered some nasty burns. The doctors are looking after her now. We're attending to them as closely as the situation allows." Dr. Mason paused, lowering her voice. "In my professional opinion, Birkin is likely going to survive, but I doubt we'll be able to fully suppress the G-response. We're trying our best."

Angela wasn't sure how to respond. She hadn't personally met the girl in question, but she knew that she was Leon's team mate, and that mattered. She considered Leon a good friend, and any friend of his was a friend of hers.

"I know you are," she replied in Leon's place. "I'll make sure to tell Leon. After we're done here, will he need to stay on site?"

"No. Given the situation, he'll be allowed to come back. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing at the moment. Agent Miller out."

"HQ out."

* * *

Leon had considered leaving the flamethrower behind when he'd discovered it. Heavy weapons weren't really his thing, and it reduced his mobility, but if Angela was in trouble, he wasn't going to let an advantage like this go untouched.

That didn't prevent him from disliking it while he toted it around.

When he'd been on the upper levels, it had been fine, but as soon as he started into the overgrown lower levels, it became extremely awkward. The unusual weight and the difficult terrain made his progress slow, and that was before he realized just how large the sprawl would be. Umbrella laboratories were always large, but when the insides were lined with similar looking plant growth, it made navigation difficult.

The first time he'd come across infected, he'd easily killed them, only to come under attack by the plant itself. Despite his disadvantage, he was able to repel the attack. Strangely, it seemed the plant wasn't all that interested in him.

The attacks had been probing at best, as if gauging him. Lots of straight jabs and sweeps that he could avoid by sidestepping or ducking. After he'd pulled his knife and managed to counter one of the attacks, it had ceased its attack, and he'd barely been bothered except for an occasional twitch in the walls when he attacked something.

The whole situation had him on edge. He had yet to find a trace of Angela, but he doubted that it would be easy. The lack of a true floor would make tracking her impossible, and there were no signs of passage in any other way.

Approaching a junction, Leon cleared both ways, seeing nothing but more darkness in either direction. Given how dark things were, he could only hope that Angela's lights still worked.

A slight mound caught his attention to his left. Given the general uniformity of the passages, it was worth noting. Slowly approaching, Leon had his gun at the ready, expecting it to burst forth or something equally unpleasant.

As he approached, he could hear an unpleasant grinding noise, overlayed with slight squishing. It sounded a bit like something chewing, and at one point he heard the sound of a bone breaking. Stepping closer, he could see through some of the holes in the mound, spotting a patch of skin within. He briefly panicked before realizing the tone was completely wrong. It was an almost reddish pink, and far too muscular to be Angela. He recognized it as the flesh of a Licker.

Through the gaps, he could see a deep stab wound on its back that looked distinctly like it was made with a knife. However, it didn't appear to be deep enough or severe enough to have caused its deal. If the bones sticking out in random directions and bruised flesh was any indication, the plant had crushed it.

Something about it set Leon's mind on edge. On the upper floor, it had seemed the infected lived within the plant with no problems, but he supposed the overgrowth was less severe there. He didn't fully understand everything going on, but he knew that Angela had been this way, and wasn't dead yet. He pushed back his thoughts, but kept it in mind as he walked.

There was something going on here, and he would get to the bottom of it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"It's good to see you again."

Yoko stared out over the quarantine zone; the grey sky seeming to drain colour from her face. Her arms were crossed, but she leaned forwards, peering out into the world. In the glass, she could see Kevin was stood a ways behind her.

"You have a very nice office," she complimented politely. Kevin shrugged as he stood by the doorway.

"It's nothing special. Just a reward for good service. You should see the site overseer's place. Guy's got a cushy chair and everything." Even though the glass didn't perfectly reflect it, Yoko could recognize the smile she'd seen ages ago. With a sigh she turned to face him, a gentle smile on her face.

"You're still the same person as always."

"A few more grey hairs, but don't let the guys know. It might ruin my image." Yoko laughed lightly, waving as if it were the last thought on her mind.

"Why don't you come on in? It's your office after all."

"I suppose I might as well. We're still waiting on the mission to go through. They should be arriving on site pretty soon." Kevin didn't say it, but Yoko knew he was thinking of it. There was a slight flick of his eyes towards the doors, as if it called to him. _He really hasn't changed_.

"I won't keep you long. I promise." The words seemed to help set his worries at ease, and he rounded the desk, stepping up beside her, looking out across the crater. "I know we didn't get to talk much when we last met."

"I don't tend to get women visitors, but even less so ones asking to get into the zone. I figured it was too important to waste with pleasantries," he assured. Yoko frowned at the disappointed edge to his eyes. She began to apologize, but couldn't bring herself to let the words pass her lips.

"I thought I was doing what was best," she explained. "Seems like it doesn't matter anyway. I wasn't in there long enough to find what I wanted, and it looks like this is all going out after all."

Kevin nodded silently, squinting at the landscape. "What did you find out while you were in there?"

"Some basic cellular data about the transitions, and some analysis about the Tyrant bodies."

"I'm sure anything you found would go over my head. You should talk with the good doctor. I'm sure you'd get along."

"I'm sure I'll get the chance after my interrogation. I'm surprised I'm not already in cuffs. You know you can't defend me from this."

"I know. I didn't."

"So why am I not in a cell?" Yoko asked, surprise on her normally passive expression.

"Beats me. All I three government agents show up and ask a few questions about you before heading into the zone to get you out. Alive."

Kevin turned to look at Yoko, whose expression had returned to its mostly neutral stage. Small lines of concern pulled at the edge of her eyes and mouth. It occurred to Kevin that he wasn't the only one who hadn't suffered from the years so far. When they had first met, he would have described her appearance as childish. Now, it seemed she'd aged too rapidly. Her dark hair had lost some of its sheen, and some of the lines on her face weren't just part of her expression.

And yet he could still see the glimmer of intelligence behind her eyes, and the genuine sense of concern about her. He allowed himself a small smile as he thought about the younger Yoko, and how she might have reacted to her older self. "It's really kind of ironic, but I guess it would have happened that way regardless."

"What is?" Yoko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That we meet again here. I always thought I'd run into you again. I was convinced actually. But the more I think about it, I don't think we could have met any other way. Just imagine it. Me pulling up to a cafe in the midwestern states and running across you."

"Why on earth would I be in a cafe?"

"That's just my point. This is the only way we could have met again," Kevin commented, trailing off.

"I'm sorry it couldn't be so...happy," Yoko apologized, floundering for the proper words to express her sentiment.

"It's okay. I would have ended up here anyway. I'm happy with the work I do here," Kevin assured, nodding confidently. Gently, he slid his hand over Yoko's, turning to look at her. "I'm just glad you're safe."

Yoko's expression softened slightly, the age slipping away for a moment, and he could see the same independent, beautiful woman he had met before. As she sighed, it seemed as if the weight of the world was being removed from her shoulders.

"It's nice to see you again," she replied, squeezing his hand back before letting go. "You should get back to Command. The mission should be starting soon."

* * *

"Dr. Mason."

"Yes? What is...oh, I didn't expect to meet with you so soon." Dr. Mason set aside her chart, before turning to one of her assistants. "Could you oversee the experiment for a bit?"

Thanking her assistant, Dr. Mason stepped out of the lab before leaning against the wall beside her guest. "Ms. Suzuki. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

"I understand you're the chief scientist here?" Yoko inquired bluntly.

"Unofficially yes. I'm not technically a member of staff, but I have a lot of privileges. But I guess as you would put it, yes, I am the chief scientist here. How can I help you?"

"I want to help."

Dr. Mason was briefly at a loss for words. She'd dealt with countless people asking her for permission to work with her, and it was always the same process. Resumes, referrals, interviews. Thinking back on it, there may have even been a time where she would have asked to work with Yoko herself. The thought brought a small smile to her face.

"We'd love to have you onboard, but uh...won't they be carting you off somewhere, if you'll forgive the question?"

Yoko nodded solemnly, but didn't turn to leave. "Probably. In that case, I want to pass my findings onto someone who can do something with them."

"I'm flattered, but why me?"

"You work near the zone, so I'm sure you've seen a number of things." Yoko paused, and Mason realized it was a question.

"It's hard to not see it. Every time there's a ranging mission, they come back worse for the wear. No infections thanks to that vaccine they cooked up during Harvardville, but a lot of injuries."

"So you understand just what kind of pain it can cause others. I have no fear that you'll do something stupid because of that. Not only that, but you work under Kevin."

Dr. Mason waited a moment, expecting some kind of explanation of the last comment before realizing that, to Yoko, there was no explanation needed. "The commander is certainly a great man. I would be lying if I said I didn't respect him just as much as the other staff here."

"For that reason, I would like to discuss some of what I've found with you."

"Of course, right this way."

* * *

Angela would be lying if it wasn't going to be the worst idea she ever had. It was the worst idea ever of all time.

Kneeling down, she regarded the aperture of the wall, with thickened vines pouring forth. She could recognize what it had formerly been, an air vent. One meant for high vacuum power, which meant that it was probably attached to the furnace region.

Which meant she was close.

The patterns on the vines suggested that it was coming from within the vent's other end. It was likely that the actual plant stalk was in the same room.

The idea of crawling through the vent was not a fun one, but it would be the fastest way to get to the tunnels. There was always the chance that she'd be attacked by the plant inside, but it seemed it was no longer trying to kill her. Rather, it seemed to be guiding her towards it.

Sighing, she realized that she was wasting time. Reluctantly, she strapped her rifle to her back and got down on the ground, thankful for her mask. Checking to make sure her knife would be easily accessible, Angela crawled forward, sliding into the ripped open vent.

There was a deceptively large amount of room in the vent. It seemed the plant had turned the entire thing into a roughly circular shape, giving her more room to maneuver. As she crawled, she could see that some of the sections of metal had burst open, revealing some of the open maintainance space beyond.

Turning the corner, she could see one of the old fan installations, long disused. The blades that had formerly carried the infected ash to other locations now were overgrown, rust showing through the decay. More importantly however, the area they were encased in was much more open, and allowed Angela to stand up.

Stretching out, Angela looked around at the installations. The fans were vertical, which meant she still needed to continue on. These ones were just to boost the rate of transfer. Reaching out, she gently touched one of the blades, feeling it firmly lodged in place. Satisfied that she wouldn't get chopped to mincemeat, she carefully stepped through the gap in the blades, trying not to accidentally pull a strand of vine.

Angela was unsurprised to see that the other half of the compartment was much more torn apart. Growing through the fans had probably taken a lot more effort than growing up to them. The passage beyond was actually tall enough to walk through at full height, something she was grateful for.

It only took a short walk to find a port in the floor. The tunnel was widened here, with plants covering nearly every inch. Looking upwards, she could see the fan set in the roof, which explained how the plant had managed to overtake this section. Cautiously, she sat down on the edge, putting a foot down on the grating. It seemed fairly stable, but she wasn't sure. She elected to take the cautious approach, grabbing onto the vines with both hands while she slowly set her weight down on the grate.

Luckily, it held, and she sighed in relief as she dug out a set of bolt cutters, beginning the process of cutting a hole near her feet. It was slow going, but the metal wasn't as strong as it could be, and there was a subtle warping from the overgrowth that made it easier as time went on. Soon, there was a nice size hole, and she smiled to herself in satisfaction at her success.

Slipping the bolt cutters back into her pack, Angela grabbed one of the edges, careful not to position her hand anywhere near a sharp edge, and lowered herself down, her muscles straining. Soon, she was hanging, and she focused all her attention on not looking down. Grabbing a vine, she wrapped her legs around it before taking a breath and letting go. For a moment, she feared the vine wouldn't support her, but just as she suspected, it was exceptionally tough.

It was a simple matter to slide down, her training kicking in. She hit the ground, and her rifle was immediately out. She looked about, orienting herself with the surroundings.

The room was dark, and massive. All around, everything had signs of destruction, with impacts and explosions marks tinting everything. Angela briefly wondered if this was how archaeologists felt coming across ancient battlefields.

The furnaces were towering, and dominated the room. Angela resisted the urge to whistle as she looked at them; they were ancient, and it showed. Despite the number of things Umbrella had been advanced on, they seemed to have kept it simple when it came to the basics.

Curiously, Angela approached one of them, peering through the glass. She nearly blanched as she looked inside, turning her gaze away quickly. Vines may have overgrown the machinery, but she could still see massive amounts of bones in various states of charring. Some looked human, others, not so much.

She would let the research teams take care of that. She was here to find a passage down into the labs. If memory served, all the furnaces were connected by a central hub, by which the bodies had arrived. Slowly turning around, she let her light pass over the walls, looking for any kind of sign. A glint of metal caught her eyes, and she walked over.

A sign was embedded in the wall, dusted over from years of exposure. Brushing aside the filth and vegetation, she could make out some of the words. The only one she needed though was the word " _hub_ ", which she instantly recognized.

Looking in the direction the sign indicated, she felt her spirits sink as she saw that it was a large cargo bay style door, with heavily overgrown motors. Even if there was power, it would have been a task to get the vines to move. She would have to find another way through.

 _Come to think of it. I still haven't found the main root_ , she realized in surprise. Her light followed the vines down, and saw they went along another hallway. She turned to follow the vines, rifle aimed ahead cautiously.

Peering around the corner, she immediately ducked back into cover. In the room beyond, she could see several of the Hunter Gammas milling about. Flicking off her headlight, she hoped they hadn't noticed her. A few moments passed and she could hear them still moving about, occasionally croaking, but they hadn't seemed to have noticed her.

What she'd seen though was the main bulk of the plant. In the split moment she'd seen it, it had been impressive. The main stalk rose out of sight, and seemed to take up most of the center of the room. She'd have to get closer for more details, but the Hunters were more pressing.

Silently, she returned to the previous room, listening behind her just in case. Once she was far enough away, she tried her comms system. "Leon...do you read me?"

"An...la. Barely…"

"I've encountered some Hunters. How do you fight them? Repeat, I have encountered Hunters," Angela explained, enunciating as clear as she could while keeping her voice down.

"Don't...close. They're...average zombies. Repeat...smarter than…"

Angela nodded her understanding, prompting Leon to repeat himself a couple of times so she got all of his message. It may have taken a moment, but she was willing to waste a bit of time if it meant increasing her chances of survival.

"Understood. Thank you. I think I'm close to the passage. I'll radio you when I get through."

"Got it...stay safe." Angela closed the line, glancing over her shoulder back at the hallway. Clutching her rifle, she took a deep breath as she slowly approached again.

 _Others have fought these things. With less ammo too,_ she reminded herself. If nothing else, she had fire power on her side. Pressing up to the wall, she breathed quietly, listening for the creatures. She could hear a croak come from the end of the hall, and smiled to herself as she realized she could get an early advantage.

Reaching a hand down to her belt, she unclipped a pair of grenades from memory; one flash, one high explosive. Briefly, she decided on which to throw first before settling on the high explosive. Flicking the pin, she tossed it down the hall before rapidly tossing the other and hiding around the corner, scrunching her eyes shut. She hear the canisters roll and a curious croak just before it set off.

The blast of the flash was her signal, and she wiped around the corner, turning her headlight on. In the beam, she could see several dazed Hunters, blinded from the sudden light exposure. Her rifle was more than a match for their weaker scales, ripping through a pair before they even had a chance to recover. Even as some of them pulled out of their stupor, she gunned another one down.

Quickly, she reloaded her gun, focusing on the ones that approached the fastest. Now that she had the range advantage on them, the fight was less terrifying. The Hunters were being slaughtered as they attempted to filter through the mouth of the hallway towards her.

Angela wasn't sure if head shots did much more to them, but that didn't stop her from gunning them down at about that level. She watched with increasing satisfaction as the monsters slumped over lifelessly, or with an occasional twitch. Soon enough, she'd dealt with the lot of them.

Ever careful, she reloaded her weapon, aiming it ahead as she advanced towards the room. She very carefully approached the bodies, making sure to double tap them. None of the bodies so much as moved as she made sure to check them. Finally, she stepped up to the last one, putting a couple of rounds into its head. As the shots rang out, she sighed as she felt the adrenaline ebb.

The croak behind her caused it to immediately come back and she whipped about fast enough to get a couple of shots on the Hunter before it barreled into her. Her rifle was knocked from hand as the two fell to the ground. Angela spared no time in grabbing her knife. The Hunter moved to try and swallow her but she drove the knife into the underside of its jaw, twisting and yanking to cause as much damage as possible. She felt the Hunter shift is weight in surprise and she reached up to knee it before pushing it off, rolling away.

Quickly, she drew her pistol, plugging rounds into the creature. Unfortunately, the caliber difference was obvious as the creature practically shrugged off the damage, some of the shots not even penetrating the harder scaled sections. Angela was unprepared when its tongue emerged, knocking the pistol from her grip. It tried to lunge at her, but she dodged to the side, reaching into her pack for anything she could use.

Her fingers gripped the dismembered Licker tongue in her pack and she drew the muscular appendage from the pack, remembering the barbs on it. Gripping it tightly, she could feel the same barbs dig into her hand, but she had no fear of infection.

Swinging the length of tongue, she was satisfied to see it open a lash on the Hunter's skin, causing profuse bleeding. She didn't let up, going for another lash. The Hunter screeched in pain, raising an arm to try and block. Instead, the length spun around the arm, the barbs preventing it from immediately unfurling. Angela quickly tugged on the tongue, causing the Hunter to lose its balance, as well as doing massive damage to its muscles.

Taking the opening, Angela dived passed the unbalanced creature towards her pistol, rolling to a kneeling position, gun raised. She immediately began firing...

...directly into the Hunter's open mouth. Her eyes widened as she saw her oncoming demise, but as the bullets entered the unprotected opening and penetrated the creature's brains, it merely ran into her, collapsing dead in a mass.

Angela groaned as she shifted the corpse off her, putting a hand out to push herself up. She immediately regretted it, as her hand blossomed in pain. Raising it up to the light, she could see that the barbs had done some damage, and that the bullets she'd fired would probably leave some bruises on the already damaged muscles.

 _It probably won't leave any permanent damage_ , she thought as she examined it. It did leave her weakened however. Angela was just contemplating what she should do when she heard the sound of something coming down the hall she had come from. Hastily, she grabbed her pistol in her off hand, aiming down the hall.

"Angela?"

"Jesus, Leon." Angela sighed a breath of relief as she beheld her teammate. Had she been in higher spirits, she might have laughed. Strapped to his back was a flamethrower unit. It was a distinct difference to the light equipment he normally elected to use. He hurried over quickly, kneeling beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, glancing at the Hunter corpses around her.

"Yeah, you should see the other guy," she joked, kicking the nearest corpse a little further. "Just a hand injury. Nothing the doctors can't take care of. Looks like I'll be getting some paid leave."

Leon smiled at the joke, sliding an arm around her to help her to her feet. Angela contemplated telling him her legs were just fine, but she realized that she was actually quite tired. She was surprised when he made no moves to go anywhere. Turning, she could see he was looking at the plant's stalk.

"Looks like we found the root of the problem," Leon muttered. Angela could see the restraint in his face.

"Leon...we can't destroy it."

"I know...our mission for now is done. Let's get you out of here."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Madre de dios…" Manuela groaned as she sat up. A small curse escaped her as she straightened out her back with a rolling popping sound. She was barely able to crack open her eyes as she stretched her arms. Through the fading fog in her eyes, she could see the white spread of blankets in front of her.

Under the tones of her own yawn, she could hear the soft breathing of another person, and as her vision cleared, she could see she was sat beside Sherry's bedside. Her brain began to wake up much faster as she saw the injured girl. Shakily standing up, she leaned over the younger girl, quietly looking her over.

With a sigh, she sat back down, satisfied that Sherry wasn't in terrible shape. The fact that she was breathing on her own, and not through one of the devices she'd seen in films was a relief. Snaking her fingers around Sherry's hand, smiling down protectively.

After a moment rubbing the girl's hand, she looked up to see if anything had happened while she was out. To her surprise, another person was in the medical ward, and Manuela's eyes widened in recognition.

"Was wondering when you'd notice me," Angela greeted, waving her arm laconically. A small grimace swept across her face as she did so, and she carefully cradled it against her chest as she used the other one to push herself to a sitting position.

"What happened to you?" Manuela made sure to keep her voice down, mindful of the resting Sherry.

"Got in a fight with a frog. A few actually. Killed them all in the end, but not without a bit of a scuffle," Angela explained with a smile. As she paused, her face darkened a little, and she seemed to mull over her thoughts for a moment.

"Turns out the entire facility was overrun by a massive plant. Leon and I managed to get all the way to the basement, but it's...almost sentient. Long story short, I got the info the HQ, and they made the call not to terminate it just yet. It's contained, so they figure they can learn a bit before burning it to the ground."

Manuela nodded slowly as she listened, though the action was automatic. Her focus was inward, were she had conjured up the image of her father's final moments, fused with the massive flower that had grown in their greenhouse. Her mouth set itself in a tight line as she remembered his pleas to end his life.

Shutting her eyes, she drew a slow breath, gently squeezing Sherry's hand. Glancing at Angela, she could see the woman was waiting patiently for her to compose herself. She took a breathe as if to start, but found herself unable to phrase her jumbled thoughts.

"Sorry, must have been a bit much to lay on you so quickly," Angela apologized, attempting to fill the space.

"No, it's alright. I think…"

Manuela thought of Sherry, and how she had struggled at first with the nature of her infection. Though she hid it well, Manuela knew she had many problems with it. The constant vigilance against injury, the repeated tests, and of course, Simmons.

She herself had been subject to a whole host of those experiences. She'd not only had to be careful on injuring herself, but also others. While she could count on one hand the number of times she'd burned Leon, she still knew the number. The number of times she'd been attended by medical staff in fire retardant suits would take up more hands than she and Leon possessed together.

But for it all, they'd gained so much. Manuela had gained a true companion, and Sherry had gained a family. The means by which they had been gained was horrible, but she could say that, for all she'd been through, she couldn't say she regretted it.

"I think they made the right call," Manuela said with finality, nodding as if to punctuate it. She turned with a smile to look at Angela. "What do you think?"

"I can't say I'm happy to know that something like that exists, but considering they plan on bombing it into the ground when it's done, I guess it gets to the same point in the end. At least this way it'll do some good."

Angela lapsed into a pleasant silence as she thought to herself. Politely, Manuela turned back to Sherry, silently checking her status. Afterwards, she gently placed a hand on her head, softly stroking her blond hair. She was so absorbed in the action that she almost missed Angela's quiet call.

"So she's Sherry, right?" Manuela nodded slowly, all too painfully aware of where the conversation was going. Angela nodded before chewing her lip. "She going to be okay?"

"I think so. I'm a little worried about some of the burns she sustained in the fight, but there was no deep tissue damage. We got lucky."

"What happened? I heard you managed to take out the ranger base, but that's it."

"The insertion was easy, but David infected himself with Tyrant material, and mutated into something like the Nyx tyrant. We managed to kill it, but Sherry basically had to burn him point blank. Not exactly something you come out unscathed from."

"I'm glad to hear that you're both okay. I'm surprised you managed to take out a Tyrant though. They're...tough," Angela commented, biting back her darker comments.

"Actually, compared to some of the other things I've fought, it wasn't the worst," Manuela noted with a small chuckle.

"Oh really? Tell me, what could be worse than a Tyrant?"

* * *

The extraction of materials was quick. All personnel in the zone had been evacuated, and Leon could hear the final checks going on around him as he looked through the windows of the HQ. Despite the mission's success, no one thought to comment. He couldn't blame them.

Today would be the day that they became free.

Some of the people on the station had served for nearly half a decade or more, on constant vigil of the horrors in the zone; all because a few psychos had decided to hide inside. Now, it would all be over.

"Mr. Kennedy. I hadn't gotten the chance to properly thank you." Leon turned to see Commander Ryman step up beside him, looking out over the zone. He turned with a smile towards Leon, extending a hand.

"Just doing our job. I just wish we'd known about it sooner, so that this could have been resolved sooner."

"No use worrying about it. After all, it's going to be over." Despite the relief in his voice, Leon could see uncertainty across his face. Ryman chuckled slightly. "It's odd. I used to dream about this day, but I guess somewhere along the way it just became normal."

"There's still going to be a need to monitor the new boundary."

"Yes, but there will still be a massive cut in manpower. We don't need to guard it all anymore. And when they finally cut that thing down, then it's really over. We're done. We did our job. And then...well, we get real jobs."

Leon nodded solemnly as he watched the Commander lean against the map table. His eyes traced the roads of the ruined city, lost in a fog of memories. "I know some people over in the BSAA. If any of your men want to continue the fight, they're always looking for more hands."

Ryman smiled, inclining his head graciously. "I will keep that in mind. Thank you. Now, I believe the fireworks should start soon."

Leon nodded his understanding, but shook his head. "That's alright. I think I've had my fill of explosions."

Ryman just smiled, nodding almost imperceptibly his understanding. Neither man said anything more as Leon took his leave, heading out of the HQ. As he walked, he could see various personnel rushing about, a sense of eager relief in the air. A few were huddled around monitors, watching the dusky horizon, a sense of eagerness on their features. Scientists sat next to border guards, and medics sat next to officers.

Eventually, Leon managed to wind his way down to the medical ward. Sliding open the doors, he was greeted by the sight of Manuela enthusiastically relating some story to Angela. Sherry had woken up, and was tiredly regarding the two with a slight, sleepy smile.

"Needless to say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall," Manuela finished with a smile. Leon didn't need to hear the rest of the story to know what she was talking about.

"So did you say it was a wolf this time, or was it actually a dog?" he asked, amused. Manuela turned to him in surprise, momentarily struggling to decide whether to smile or frown at him.

"Don't worry, she told me it was a dog," Angela assured. "Why are you here? I would have thought you would be-"

"Upstairs? I didn't want to leave you guys to have all the fun down here." Leon circled around Sherry's bed, taking up a seat on the other side. "How you doing?"

"Just woke up. More than a little sore though," Sherry admitted with a shrug, immediately regretting the decision as she winced in pain. "And a bit dizzy. I think I may have hit my head or something. My vision's a bit dark."

"Here, let me take a look at you." Leon half listened to the ongoing story as he helped Sherry sit up, careful to move slowly. Across her shoulders, he could see the bare tracings of burn marks already beginning to heal themselves fully. Nothing worth worrying about there.

High above them, he could hear the low rumble as the first missiles hit the ground. Everyone paused and looked up at the sound, understanding the gravity of the moment. It didn't last long however. The rumble stopped as quickly as it had started, and Leon could hear the sound of celebration replace it.

Refocusing his attention, he opened the back of her scrubs, following the burns down, and his breath caught in his throat as he did. Sherry's own reaction was worse as she froze, a tremor going through her body as a choked gasp escaped her.

Worse still was the single eye on her back turning to look up at him.

Leon reflexively locked up in response to the sight, and that was his first mistake. Sherry launched herself from the bed, her feet landing awkwardly and sending her sprawling to the floor. She whipped about in a frenzy, obviously off-balance. Leon lunged for her, grabbing her hands as he saw her reaching back. "Sherry! Stop!"

"Leon, what's going on?!" Manuela's voice was panicked, and she stood transfixed at the sight of Leon trying desperately to restrain the stronger girl. Leon quickly maneuvered himself behind Sherry, using his body to physically block access to the vestigial organ. Sherry struggled viciously, throwing herself to either side in an attempt to shake him off, but Leon refused to let go.

"Let me go, let me go, let me...go…" Sherry initially began shouting, but her voice faded as more dizziness overwhelmed her.

"Cover your eyes," Leon commanded quietly, and after a moment Sherry complied, breathing heavily. Even so, Leon didn't let up his grip go. "Alright, now I'm going to slowly let go, okay?"

Leon waited for a response, listening to Sherry breathe slowly. It took a moment, but she managed to get a nod out. Realizing how tight he was holding her, Leon let go gently, slowly removing his arms from around hers. Sherry flinched as the Leon pulled away and the light hit the eye on her back.

Now that she was holding still, Leon got a better look at it. It was barely as wide as his thumb, which already made it abnormal by size alone. Leon noted from a little too much personal experience that it seemed to differ from normal G-virus eyes as well. Instead of a pure red sclera and iris, the red gave way to a purplish colour around the pupil, which itself was a slit. Even as it wavered between him and the other occupants of the room, it didn't seem to switch to a dot at all, like he'd seen other G do.

"What the hell?" Angela asked loudly, eyes wide at the sight.

"Don't look at it," Sherry protested weakly, lying down on her side, unable to any more than that. Slowly, Manuela approached, kneeling beside her.

"Sherry, please, let me take a look at it," she insisted. Sherry shook her head vehemently.

"I feel sick…" she muttered, all energy drained as quickly as it had come. Leon hurriedly stood up, rushing over to grab a trash can. He managed to help prop her up long enough to get her over the mouth of it before her body took over.

The new position allowed Manuela to sit beside her, gently cradling her as she recovered. Notably, she avoided looking at the new organ as Sherry had requested. After a minute, it was clear that nothing more would come from Sherry's stomach, and she clung gently to Manuela.

The older woman was gently stroking her hair, trying to calm her down, and she turned to Leon. "Go grab one of the doctors. We need to get her back to the base."

Leon nodded, rushing out of the room.

* * *

"Well, I can confirm this mutation is a contained incident," Yoko surmised as she took her hands off of Sherry's back. Sherry herself sat on the medical table, a blindfold across her eyes. The strain of holding her eyes shut had been a problem to her already overloaded system, and they had quickly deduced that her nausea had been caused by the third eye sending her sensory information she wasn't equipped to handle.

The eye on Sherry's back flicked back and forth between Leon and Yoko, watching carefully. After his initial shock, Leon's fear had died into an almost numb reaction. Despite the fact that Sherry was facing away from them, she was tracking their conversation all too well.

"It reacts to stimulus like a normal eye. The flesh around it's already healed, so I doubt we'll see anything more come out of it. If I had to guess, I'd say that she just hit some kind of limit to her healing with that fight. The eye is located in the center of the burn, so my best guess is that the healing factor had to work its way inwards, and thus couldn't reach it in time."

"So, what's it mean doc?" Sherry asked, her voice neutral. In the time since being helped to the medical ward, she'd calmed down significantly, though Leon wondered how much of that was her choice, and how much was a combination of her exhaustion and nausea.

"Well, I don't think you'll be growing anything else, so take heart in that," Yoko assured, setting aside her flashlight. She picked up one of the haphazard papers they'd brought in hurriedly. "Now, I don't think there's any medical history of people experiencing life with more than two eyes, but there has been some studies with people who have experienced life blind and regained use of their eyes."

"You have the advantage in that your brain is already equipped to deal with sight. Many patients who develop sight are unable to properly integrate the information because their brain isn't equipped to handle it. It also helps that the G-Virus naturally tends towards evolving interfacing in order to utilize the organs. The one glaring issue is the nausea. You're used to binocular vision, and now you have a limited form of panoramic vision. There are two things I can recommend," Yoko stated, scrawling down shorthanded notes as she did so. "Firstly, that you spend time trying to get used to it. The faster you integrate the sensory information into your mind, the easier it will be. And secondly, that when you're not using it, you cover it up."

"Her uniform can already handle the second part," Leon noted. "How does she go about getting used to it?"

"Studies have shown that moving objects are actually easier to deal with for new sight than stationary ones. Have her learn to use her monocular vision first, then in support of her two primary eyes. Any other questions?"

"No, thank you," Sherry nodded quietly. Yoko looked at her a moment, her face mostly passive. Even so, Leon could see a slight sadness on her features.

"I'll let you two have a moment while I send the information to your supervisors." Yoko excused herself from the lab, holding the door open so that Manuela could slip into the room. A small smile came to Sherry's face.

"Hey Manuela," she welcomed, turning her head to simulate facing her. Manuela gave a nervous wave in return, moving to sit next to her. Gently, she turned to Leon.

"Do you mind if we have a moment?"

"Go right ahead. I'll go talk with the doctor."

Manuela smiled to him as he left, trying to instill a sense of confidence in not only him but herself. Once he left the room, she breathed a slight sigh, turning back to Sherry. "Do you want to take off the blindfold? I can dim the lights."

"That would be nice." Manuela patted Sherry's back gently before moving to bring the lights down to a soothing level. Sherry reached up, tentatively removing the blindfold. All her eyes squinted slightly, readjusting to the stimulus and Manuela quickly moved to support her. Gently, Manuela rubbed her back, helping ease the spinning sensation.

"Better?"

"Much." The pair lapsed into silence again, and Manuela sat comfortably beside her. Sherry seemed to be thinking deeply as she stared ahead. After a moment, she glanced at Manuela. "How...how bad is it?"

Manuela leaned back slightly, looking at the small thing. "Not too bad if you ask me. It could have been a lot worse. Do you want to see?"

Sherry nodded her head, and Manuela walked over to the cabinets, skimming the contents. Eventually she pulled out a hand mirror, holding it close to her chest. "I'd close your eyes. I'm not sure how you'll do with reflections."

Sherry followed her suggestion as Manuela gently handed the mirror to Sherry. The younger girl held it behind her, slowing as she got it into position. Her other hand snaked around her back, gently feeling the skin around it. Sherry's fingertips hesitantly touched the eye, which shook like one would expect when putting something close to it. However, the eye never blinked and Sherry quickly removed her fingertips, obviously dizzy.

"It looks…"

"Horrible?" Manuela asked, sticking her arm out. Sherry was about to ask what she was doing when she pulled up her sleeve all the way to her shoulder. Sherry's eyes settled on her upper arm.

"Is that-?"

"My mutation? Yes. I've had it for years. As long as I can remember actually," Manuela explained running her other hand along the strangely raised skin patterns. "For as long as I've known, I always wore bandages to cover it, and even when I became an agent, I wore longer sleeves to hide it from everyone."

"The first time Leon saw them, he was very professional," Manuela commented with a laugh. "He wanted to make sure I wasn't injured. Even when he realized what it was, he never stopped looking at it as anything more than an injury."

"We've known each other for almost three years now, and only recently did I let him look at it again. I even let him touch it. And you know what? When he did, I didn't mind. In fact, aside from habit, I'd almost completely forgotten about it. I wore long sleeves because that's what I had. People didn't touch there because we're all professionals. In that moment, I realized I'd forgotten to remember it. And I realized just how stupid it was to worry about it."

Sherry was silent as she listened to Manuela speak. After a moment, Manuela gently took her hand, placing it on the afflicted area. "Even with something like this, I still made some great friends. Just look at the news after Harvardville. I was treated as a hero, even though for the longest time I thought I was a monster-"

Manuela was interrupted by a tight hug from the younger initial surprise faded quickly, and she returned it tightly, gently running her fingers through the hair on the back of Sherry's head.

"There there, it's okay. It's okay."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Leon sat in the base's cafeteria, warming his hands on his bowl of oatmeal. The selection of foods wasn't amazing, but it's what he expected from a military base. Particularly one that had to monitor everything they took in.

He turned to glance out the window, once again tracing the landscape. He hadn't seen the actual payload, but he had heard it. And now he could see the devastation.

Even if the city had been in ruins before, there was a noticeable difference. The entire eastern segment had been carpet bombed to the base. A strange network of crisscrossing impacts showed the signs of deliberate strikes to seal the tunnels underground, and from what he'd heard of the reports, the scans seemed to show that it had succeeded. As he peered into the distance, he could see the already beginning in-roads of the new barrier, centered on the forest.

Pulling himself from his study, he noticed the Commander standing behind him, looking out at the landscape as well. He turned to face him, motioning silently to the seat across from him. Ryman only nodded his head thankfully as he settled himself down, sighing in relief.

"You sound like the weight of the world just slid off your shoulders."

"It did," he agreed. "I came to thank you once again for your help. I heard what happened to your partner. Is she alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah...she'll just need some time to recover."

"I'm sorry she got hurt."

"It wasn't your fault. It's Umbrella's, and the fault of all the people that still use and sell the virus. In any case, we succeeded in the mission, and everyone's going to make it home safely. How are things with Yoko?"

"They are alright. Now that she can finally research what she needs to, I think she'll stick around. It will be odd to have her around, even if only for a short time."

"Where is she planning on going after this place goes up?"

"Same as Dr. Mason, over to the BSAA's science division. That's where a lot of us are headed actually."

"Can't blame you. If I wasn't already signed up with the government, that's probably where I would have ended up. When you get there, say hello to Chris Redfield for me, would you?"

"You know Mr. Redfield?"

"I wouldn't say I know him. I know his sister though, and I've talked to him once or twice," Leon explained, pausing to polish off his bowl. The two men sat in silence for a little while, and Kevin turned to look out over the destruction.

Leon regarded him for a moment, watching the man's unknowable thoughts flick across his face. He moved to leave when he turned back. "Oh yes, I nearly forgot. I just got a message saying that the state representative is coming over to have a talk with you."

Leon paused, looking over at the man questioningly. "What makes them think I want to meet with them? I just want to go home and be done with it."

Kevin smiled, and his eyes glinted for a moment. "They said that you know them personally."

That got Leon's attention. He deliberated a moment longer before sighing. "Alright, I'll bite. Where am I meeting them?"

"In the board room around ten."

Leon nodded in acknowledgement, quickly waving his goodbye. Kevin waved back, and as Leon left the room, he could see the man turn back to the window, once again becoming wrapped in his thoughts.

* * *

Leon looked at the door in front of him, suddenly very aware of how unpresentable he looked. Despite showering, he had no doubt he still looked very dishevelled and weary. Not to mention that his only outfit was his agent uniform. Pushing aside the concerns of his appearance, he opened the doors, stepping inside.

He caught sight of the representative in question, sitting just to the side, laptop in front of her. The sound of the door caused her to look up, her blonde hair bobbing just about her neck. She smiled brightly as she recognized him, standing up. Her outfit was a far cry from the last time he'd seen her. She wore a very formal outfit comprised of suit pants and a matching coat, the dark black drastically different from the greens and oranges.

"Ashley?"

"Been awhile, hasn't it?" she chuckled. "I can tell you weren't expecting to see me again."

"Honestly, no. I figured with your father midway through the presidency, you would be back in the Capitol. What happened?"

Ashley sighed. "It's a bit of a long story."

"I've got time if you do."

"I suppose I owe you that much. Have a seat." Leon obliged her, and she sat down opposite him, closing her laptop. "After Spain, I came to realize just how terrible the biohazard threat is. Before that point, I had always heard people talk about it. Even my father did. It was always "we will work to ensure that nothing like Raccoon City happens again," but I saw just how much work that did."

"When I got back to my dad, at first, I was just happy to be home. If nothing else, it was a hell of a lot cleaner. I saw a few of my friends after that, but you just don't look at things the same way anymore. It kinda makes it hard to want to party, or hang out when you realize that anywhere, any time, another attack could happen."

"So I decided to get into politics. I had already studied it before, and being the President's daughter, I had plenty of people to help me get into it. Needless to say, it wasn't hard to launch a campaign on the platform on my ideas. The marketers had a field day with it. I'm honestly surprised you didn't hear about it."

"To be fair, I try to stay out of politics," Leon replied neutrally.

"In any case, I managed to secure the position of Representative. I was honestly surprised I succeeded, but considering the resources at my disposal, I guess I shouldn't have been. I was actually only just elected, and barely made the cut off. Even so, I've been busy. One of the first things I did was get our biohazard response system up to date."

"Let me guess, Angela was part of that system?"

"You would be correct. When your call for an agent came through, it was my program that got the request through quickly, as well as the selection process. I won't recite the numbers, but I assure you that it's faster than most states."

"I assume you didn't come here just to tell me how great you're doing?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt," Ashley replied with a smile. "With the success of this mission, we have a chance to get the system to spread more. If Harvardville taught us anything, it's that we were only half prepared for the attack. We managed to contain it, but we couldn't go in and clear it without the help of people like you and Manuela. I want to change that."

"And how would you propose that?"

"At first, we would have you and your partners help train some people in the fighting of infected individuals, and they in turn would teach others. Within a short time, you wouldn't need to be involved in the teaching process, and it could be self perpetuating. We just need you for the start of it."

"Why don't you call the BSAA? They have dozens of people with more experience than me."

"The BSAA is a global organization. They handle attacks abroad, responding and suppressing infections. We need people here and now who can defend against attacks on a local level in short order. Not only that, but having the ability to proactively go after organizations threatening to use the viruses would help immensely. The largest threat comes from those who hold the viruses like a loaded gun. If we act, they could release it, leaving us unprepared for the results. However, if we have agents who are ready and trained in it, then it lowers the risk, allowing more cells to be destroyed."

Leon couldn't argue with her logic. "Alright, I'm in. You'll have to ask the others too, since I don't speak for them."

Ashley smiled in relief, her shoulders falling as she let go of the breath she was holding in. "That's reassuring. Rest assured, you will be compensated for your help. Is there anything you need? I can assure you we will try and get it."

Leon rubbed his chin in thought, a small smile curling on his lips as he remembered something. "There is one thing. Technically only Manuela and I are cleared for civilian deployment. Sherry is still under classification. Can you lift that?"

"We can certainly try. We have enough supporters that I don't think they can refuse it."

"One more thing. Aside from just getting the information wall cleared, do you think you can get them to lighten up on the restrictions? Obviously some are in place for safety, but I'd like to be able to go places with them. They're like family to me."

Ashley nodded, smiling warmly. "I'll see what I can do. Even if you hadn't agreed, I would have tried."

"Thanks. That means a lot."

"You did save my life after all. I have to be a little grateful for that," Ashley retorted with a laugh. After a moment, she stood, sliding the laptop under her arm. "This program will save hundreds of lives. In a way, you saving me is going to save them."

"I don't think the world's ready for a Saint Kennedy. I'll just stick to being an agent."

Ashley laughed, momentarily letting her younger self shine through. "It was nice seeing you again Leon. I'll try to keep in better touch."

"Sounds good. Keep up the good work. Who knows, if I lived in your district, I might actually vote for you," he joked, watching her leave.

* * *

The bright light forced Sherry to squint. Dully, she noticed that spending so much time on base had made her eyes far too sensitive for her tastes. Hissing, she covered her eyes.

"Here, these should help." Sherry turned slightly to see Manuela offering her a pair of sunglasses, already wearing a set herself.

"Thanks. You have problems too?" Sliding the pair on, she could feel her pupils adjusting rapidly. Looking around, she could more properly appreciate her surroundings.

Leon hadn't told her where they had been headed, but now she could see that they had arrived in some form of park. If her memory served, it was Sizemore park. All around her, people calmly strolled about, enjoying the break of fair weather.

There was a surreal sense of detachment from it all. She had spent so long inside of facilities that seeing such an open and green space was shocking. Even the courtyard couldn't compare to this, with all the people milling about. Even more amazing, none of them were aware of what...who she was.

"I used to," Manuela answered, cutting into Sherry's thoughts. "Now I do it just to cover my eyes."

Sherry nodded absently, still overwhelmed by the sudden freedom she felt. A part of her wanted to run and leap about, but she knew that would draw undue attention. She looked between her companions, their casual outfitting suddenly making sense. Retrospectively, she wanted to smack herself for not noticing. Manuela had practically had to force her into the summer dress she now wore.

"What are we waiting for?" Leon began to walk along the path without waiting for a response. Sherry turned to Manuela, looking at her as if asking for confirmation that she could move.

All Manuela did was smile, moving to walk beside Leon.

Sherry quickly slipped into step on the other side of Leon, looking around in borderline wonder. A smile broke onto her face as she felt the warm sunlight on her skin, and listened to the sound of leaves rustling in the wind. Even the sound of cars whooshing by on the roads was a pleasant change from the clicking of boots on flooring.

Breathing in deeply, she could smell the vegetation around her, along with all the various scents from nearby stores. Even though she couldn't see them, she could tell that some form of bakery was nearby, along with a florist's, and something carrying spicy foods.

"What's it like for you?" Sherry asked quietly. Manuela raised an eyebrow in questioning. "Your senses."

"I don't think I could describe it well enough to do it justice. I can hear and smell just about everything. It's actually a little intense."

Sherry's thoughts were cut off as they passed by a few people. It took her focus just to keep walking forward, as she looked at them appraisingly. She had become so used to seeing the same people day in and out that these new faces were fascinating.

One of the women in the group noticed her gaze, and gave a friendly smile coupled with a wave. Sherry just stared blankly in return before suddenly realizing how awkward she must have looked. Quickly, she waved back, turning away with heat rising in her face.

"Feeling hungry?"

Sherry's mouth involuntarily began watering at the idea of something other than base food. She nodded quickly, practically bouncing at the idea. Leon chuckled to himself, looking around as he tried to spot something appealing.

After a small amount of wondering, they had settled for a small cafe, the primary reason being the outside seating. The whole affair passed relatively easily, despite Sherry's relative newness when it came to interacting with people. Soon enough, the three sat in pleasant silence, enjoying the warm daylight.

Sherry went to take a sip of some unknown tea when she happened to notice someone's gaze on her. A young man a few tables down had been looking at her with a smile, though he diverted his gaze when she noticed. Discretely, Sherry turned to Leon.

"Why was he looking at me? You think he knows who I am?"

Leon looked at her in confusion before following her gaze to see the man himself. Appraising him carefully, Leon turned back, a smile on his face. "I think he just thinks you're pretty."

Sherry felt the heat in her face before she could truly process Leon's words. Eager to hide her embarrassment, she angrily sipped her tea, causing her companions to laugh. Manuela gently shoved her shoulder.

"Looks like we can't take you out any more. Leon'll have to beat the men off with a stick."

Sherry could barely keep from spitting her tea at the image. Her companions only laughed harder, and she smiled to herself at the idea. Looking down at herself, she supposed she did look a _little_ pretty. Idly, she played with a strand of hair, thinking about what he must have seen in her. Setting her teacup down, her other hand slid behind her back, feeling the mild difference in her flesh on her back.

"Don't worry, no one can see it," Manuela assured, gently grabbing her arm. Sherry smiled thankfully at her, allowing her arm to be guided. Taking a deep breath, she turned her thoughts away from her mutation, and to the two wonderful people she sat with.

Idly, she noticed the looks the two shared, the small smiles. A small warmth spread through her heart as she watched the two. She wondered if she would ever find someone like they had; someone who would look at her and love her, all of her. Her grip clenched a little as she contemplated what it would be like showing her eye. At the moment, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to trust someone that much.

But as she looked at Manuela, she remembered her own deformity, hidden under the long sleeves she wore. While she didn't bear them to the public, she was comfortable showing them to Leon. Sherry closed her eyes, imagining what it would be like to have that.

She imagined someone's eyes wandering down her back, until they rested on the one spot. She imagined them smiling, rather than cringing. She imagined someone not caring about it.

"What are you thinking about?" Manuela's words interrupted her thoughts. Sherry startled out of her thoughts, smiling to herself.

"Nothing, just thinking," Sherry replied, smiling to herself. Someday, she might find someone like that. But she wasn't going to let that get in the way of having the day with her family.

* * *

And that was Quarantine! The rest of this will be a brief author's note, so if you're not interested in that, hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you around!

Quarantine was a bit of a spur of the moment idea, and while I enjoyed it, I think the average quality overall was noticeably less than the other stories. As such, I will spend more time planning and drafting the next major story, which I think will probably be something in between Quarantine and Damnation. If folks would like to see more of a particular style, or usage of characters, please feel free to leave a review or PM on the subject. With that aside, I will continue to do some of the extra chapters while I work on the larger narrative, so those will continue. Until next time!


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